Portuguese boss Paiva revels in giving PSG “their own medicine” as Luis Enrique admits 1-0 winners Botafogo “the best defensive side we have played” | OneFootball

Portuguese coach Renato Paiva secured one of the biggest results of his managerial career on Thursday night, when South American champions Botafogo beat European champions Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the FIFA Club World Cup.

A first-half goal by Igor Jesus gave Botafogo not only leadership of Group A with a 100% record, but a monumental victory at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena which is already being described as historic for the club.

Competitive meetings between the champions of South America and Europe are taken extremely seriously in Brazil. Indeed, when a club wins the Copa Libertadores, the prospect of taking on the kings of Europea is regarded as one of the biggest aspects of the success, with the allure of competing in such occasions shared throughout the continent.

Despite having just 25% possession on the day, Botafogo held strong to defend after lone frontman Igor Jesus’ strike on 36 minutes. The feverish celebrations from all players, staff and fans at full time said everything about what the victory meant to the Rio de Janeiro club, while after the match Luis Enrique paid tribute to the Brazilian side.

"They were the team that defended best against us this season, it was difficult to create goalscoring opportunities at every moment,” said the Spaniard. “We knew it would be a tough match, they defended very well. We had a few chances to score, but it was a tough game. We know how difficult this competition is."

This is for everyone – Paiva

Botafogo’s Portuguese coach Renato Paiva has been speaking at length since the victory, which has been major news in Brazil. A former Benfica youth coach of many years, Paiva has since been associated with Latin American football, enjoying a highly successful spell in Ecuador with Independiente del Valle, as well as terms with Toluca of Mexico and Bahia in Brazil.

“The least important thing is me,” he said. “This club and this team are too big for me to talk about myself. It’s not a victory for Renato. It’s a victory for the security guard who opens the door for us in the morning at the training centre, for the man who does our check-ups, for the man who takes care of the pitch, for the directors, the nutritionist, the doctors, everyone.

“Botafogo is very big, but it’s a family, and that unites us and makes us all work towards the same goal. So it’s a victory for Botafogo and for all the people who work every day so that this group of players has nothing else to do but train and play. And that’s something that was already done when I arrived. I just arrived and adapted to what was there. And, of course, I’m doing my part to make sure that this work continues as good as it was last year, especially.”

“Tactically perfect”

“Of course, in football, there is always a chance of winning a game like this,” Paiva continued. “The history of football says so and the football graveyard is full of favourites. It was proven once again. One of the priorities of this group and this coach is to shield themselves from the outside and work according to their ideas, their philosophies, their knowledge of their players. It was a question of believing, sincerely, because it is not the outside that defines us. We closed ourselves off from the outside, because after our first match everything was negative.

“We played a game in which, tactically, we were perfect. Flawless. PSG didn’t have all those clear chances. They had the ball a lot, but we were very united. When I left the pitch, I said: we made PSG drink their own medicine. We were what PSG have been lately. A real team, and it wasn’t the first time.

“We all attacked, we all defended. We all moved to the right, we all moved to the left. We all went forward and we all went back. It was the only way to match them. From then on, it was also down to the talent of our players, because they have a lot of quality. It was a strategic game, we knew how it was going to be.”

Brazilian sides impress

The tournament has proved fruitful for Brazilian sides so far. Abel Ferreira’s Palmeiras top Group A, while Flamengo have already secured qualification for the knockouts after a stunning 3-1 victory over Chelsea in Group D and Fluminense held Borussia Dortmund to a goalless draw in their only game so far in Group F.

“I think that people underestimate a little what football is like in Brazil and the quality of the Brazilian championship,” Paiva said. “Only those who are there and who follow it understand how difficult it is to play in that championship. You play 10 matches a month, you play every three days... The teams are good, the Brazilian players are still very good, the coaches are very good, the Brazilians and those who arrive try to give their best.

“And the reality is that the competition in the calendar is so tough that it forces you, as a coach, to have a thousand strategies to manage a group, to manage the physical, technical, tactical and psychological planning, so that you play every three days without being able to train. And that is a very big problem, as I have said many times.

“The biggest problem in Brazilian football is that there is little training and more games, and this is linked to not developing the players better, because they grow through training, in my opinion. So, those who know and follow the Brazilian championship know that it is one of the toughest in the world, one of the most competitive. The last team easily beats the first. There are always five, six, seven teams competing for the title.

“This is the 13th consecutive game; of those, we won 10. We lost two and drew a competitive game with Flamengo. There is a lot of work involved, but there is also my work and that of the coaching staff.

“There are many opinions about many things. Just today I was watching the Seattle game against Atlético de Madrid and I thought: "when Botafogo wins, the opposition are always bad, they are always weak, they are not good." And today I was watching Seattle share the game with Atlético de Madrid, their chances to score more goals. In the first half Atlético de Madrid was winning 1-0, Seattle had more shots on goal than Atlético de Madrid. "But no, Botafogo won because Seattle is...

“Today Ancelotti is in the national team, which is, for me, an extraordinary achievement for Brazilian football. I don’t think it is necessary for all four [Brazilian] teams in this competition to be successful for people to say: “Wow, after all, Brazilian football is top class”. I am not at all surprised by what is happening, not at all. You have to come and say, gentlemen, that Brazilian football has a lot of quality.”

Despite being at 100% after two matches, Botafogo must still secure a draw against Atletico Madrid to be sure of qualification for the next phase, due to the potential for all three sides ending on 6 points, given PSG are expected to beat Seattle Sounders, which would make goal difference the deciding factor.