Despite admitting that FC has a physical edge, Sporting CP manager Rui Borges stressed on Monday that the will to advance to the League Cup final must surpass tiredness.
“Our ambition, which the game symbolizes, must triumph over physical exhaustion in order to advance to the competition final. The ‘Lions’ coach said in Alcochete prior to the semi-final match that this goal must take precedence over all other considerations.
Four days after the ‘Blue and Whites’ played only 15 minutes against Nacional in a match cut short by fog, and Sporting played a “intense” 90 minutes against Vitória de Guimarães, an exciting match that finished in a 4-4 tie, the ‘Lions’ and ‘Dragons’ will square off on Tuesday.
As a result, Borges acknowledged that “FC Porto does not have that overburden, so to speak,” and that it “may bring some different aspects” to the League Cup game. He did, however, emphasize that “ambition must prevail above all else” on several occasions and that the players “are motivated for what the game represents.”
“It represents a competition final; they want to win, they want to add trophies to their individual and collective careers, and bring trophies to the greatness of Sporting,” he said.
Earlier this season, when he was in charge of Vitória de Guimarães, the coach played FC Porto, when he suffered his worst loss (3-0). But he dismissed it, telling everyone that he now trains “another team with different players,” and that he would rather concentrate on what this team “can achieve” in their matchups with competitors who are “in a very positive phase” right now.
“I think the squad is ready for everything that could come up. Now, FC Porto will also come into a group that is very driven and eager to make it to the championship game. And we will be strong in our own right because of who we are. “I think it will be a good match,” Rui Borges said, “but it’s also part of Sporting’s strategy to understand FC Porto’s behavior in order to try to outdo them.”
The coach disclosed that Marcus Edwards is “doubtful” owing to illness, while defender Gonçalo Inácio “can be an option” for the semi-final matchup, despite the fact that he still needs “some time to reach physical readiness for 90 minutes.”
When asked if he would continue to start Franco Israel or switch things up and give Kovacevic or perhaps Diego Callai a chance, he simply said that “all three are options.”
“I am confident in all three of the goalkeepers. Both rotating and not rotating are things I have done. It’s just a question of knowing the time,” he said.
On Tuesday, Sporting will play FC Porto in the League Cup semi-finals. António Nobre (AF Leiria) will oversee the match, which is set to begin at 19:45 at Estádio Magalhães Pessoa in Leiria.
In October, the ‘dragons’ defeated Moreirense 2-0 in the quarter-finals, and the team under Rui Borges’ leadership, coached by Ruben Amorim, advanced to the competition’s ‘Final Four’ after defeating Nacional.
The ‘Lions’ are now ahead of FC Porto, whose match against Nacional was cut short after 15 minutes on the same day, with 41 points after their 4–4 draw with Vitória de Guimarães on Friday.
This match is the third time the two teams have faced each other this season. In early August, FC Porto, under the leadership of Vítor Bruno, won the Supercup 4-3 (after extra time), while Sporting won the league 2-0 at home at the end of the same month.
