Carlos Vicens, the head coach of Sp. Braga, spoke to the media after his team’s draw with Benfica at the Estádio da Luz. He commented on the game and the decision to leave Zalazar on the bench until late in the match.
“We came into this match aiming to mathematically secure fourth place. The team has played many games recently. The truth is we were in a limiting situation regarding player availability. Today was our 60th match. The players gave everything on the pitch, even though they were at the limit of their energy. We were competitive and united against Benfica.”
Regarding Zalazar, who started on the bench and only entered the field in the final minutes:
“Zalazar has been running a fever since we returned from Germany. He couldn’t train with us on Saturday, and we had to send him home with a penicillin infection and some tonsillitis plaques on his neck that were not pleasant. He only managed to work a little on Sunday, but he was still feeling the effects of the fever. And since he was also recovering from a recent injury, we had to be cautious and not give him many minutes on the pitch. We are pleased with the team’s performance.
I haven’t been following the news. We were very focused on trying to seal fourth place. This season started with a new philosophy, without me knowing the league. The first official matches were extremely demanding. The schedule has been tough. By September we had already played 10 official matches. Regardless of the games, we always entered to win.
Next season we will try to build on the experience we have gained from this one. We will maintain the desire to win every game. The future is to continue along this line of work. We will try to win more matches than we did this season.”
