Farioli on Pepê’s injury: “Just unlucky” | OneFootball

Francesco Farioli gave his first statements after FC Porto’s thrashing of Casa Pia (4-0), in the quick interview section on Sport TV. The Italian coach praised his team’s performance but did not fail to point out a drop in performance over the 90 minutes: “The approach to the game was fantastic. The players read the game well, had good intensity, and the patience needed to create the right opportunities. In the second half, we lost structure; without the ball, we did everything well, but with it, we didn’t create as much as we could have.”

“We have a lot of things to improve, but it’s an important result to keep going,” Farioli emphasized.

The coach also assessed Francisco Moura’s first 45 minutes this season, putting them in the context of the recovery plan implemented in recent weeks: “Francisco played 45 minutes midweek against the B team and did well. He’s an important player for the team. We have one game before the international break [Sporting, on August 30], but after that, we have so many games. We need to recover all the players.”

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With Moura leaving the medical report, Pepê came into the game due to an eye injury. Farioli specified the origin of the winger’s problem: “It was just bad luck. He got hit in the eye with the ball, which caused damage. He needs to be evaluated. We have to see [if he’ll be available for Sporting], it’s very recent, but the medical team will try to get him back in time.”

The coach also commented that the uncertainty regarding Pepê’s absence was offset by William Gomes’s performance, who seized the opportunity and scored an excellent goal. Farioli praised the young winger: “The way he started the game and kept it up was fantastic. Of course, he scored a goal, which is the cherry on top, but his energy was great.”

Despite three wins in the first three rounds, Farioli tempered the enthusiasm and insisted that “there’s a lot to improve.” Already looking ahead to Alvalade, he highlighted his players’ mentality: “We made the games look easy, the mentality is incredible, we’ve been like this since day one. We have six days to prepare to play at the champions’ home.”

The coach rejected the idea that he made changes to key players, such as Froholdt, early in the second half to manage efforts for Alvalade; he explained that the substitutions were instead to “protect the players” and “finish the game with 11 men.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.