Abu Dhabi: Unil Tuesday, Gremio coach Renato Portaluppi’s mission was to ensure his Brazilian Copa Libertadores-winning outfit reached the final of the Fifa Club World Cup. But having beaten Mexican club Pachuca 1-0 in extra time on Tuesday, he is already dreaming of bigger things.
“We are not here just to reach the final. We are the Champions of Copa Libertadores and I want my team to win here,” said Portaluppi, who assured his team’s fans that he and his wards are hungry for more.
“I want to tell our supporters that all the players are motivated enough to achieve this objective. We will be well rested before the final and you can be sure that we will be playing hard.”
The winners of the second semi-final between Real Madrid and Al Jazira will Gremio’s opponents for the finals on Saturday. Portaluppi, however, doesn’t have any preferred choice and strongly believes in beating the best team for the title.
“Whoever qualifies from the Real and Jazira match doesn’t matter,” he said. “The fans can be assured that we will fight a lot for the title. As long as we are on the pitch, we will try our best to win the title.”
Gremio won the contest against Pachuca in extra time through a brilliant strike by their 21-year-old striker Everton, who came on as a substitute in the 72nd minute.
Even before Gremio had landed for the competition, the topic of discussion was how the team would cope in the absence of the key Brazilian midfielder Arthur Melo, who helped Gremio win this year’s Copa Libertadores — the South American equivalent of the Champions League.
Melo’s absence with injury put the spotlight on 24-year old attacking midfielder Luan but he couldn’t create the tempo Gremio are known for.
In the end, it needed the brilliance of another youngster in Everton to send Gremio through.
“It was a very hard match and we knew that from the beginning. Pachuca didn’t reach here by chance but the most important thing is we achieved our goal of reaching the final. Everybody wants to be here in the final and so thank goodness we made it,” said Portaluppi adding that he had asked his players not to get into the contest thinking about Pachuca’s performance in their previous match.
“I knew it will be totally different from what Pachuca played in the first match. My team was a bit anxious of course, especially, in the first half of the match.
“We tried to calm them down whenever we had a chance to chat with them and you also have to understand the team is very tired as we had so many matches throughout the year. The psychological aspect is not that well but the most important thing is we are in the final,” said Portaluppi, who revealed that he had done a thorough study about Pachuca before the encounter and allowing them to play freely in the first half was a part of their plan.
“We knew we could control the proceedings later. We wanted them to get tired playing the way they play. The boys had played that way as per my directions but semi-finals is always tough you see,” said Portaluppi, who hailed Everton’s match winning performance saying that the striker proved his worth when it mattered most.
“Our team was getting anxious in the first half and making too many passing mistakes. In the second, we brought in another striker in Everton. That put a lot of pressure on the opponent and created lot of opportunities. He (Everton) rose to the occasion and scored a beautiful goal and after that the team was at ease and held on till the end,” revealed Portaluppi, who vowed that the team will dish out free-flowing football in the finals.
“I agree that it we didn’t play the same way we are known for, but those who know Gremio will agree we play much more than we did today. Even though we didn’t play as well as we could, but still made it to the finals and that means we can do much better in the finals.”
