Review of what he experienced in PAOK Leo Matos did.
On the occasion of his decision to end his football career, the Brazilian spoke – through the show “Monday FC” on Nova – about the great moments he lived in the “biceps of the North”.
He spoke about winning the first Cup in the team’s new era, emphasizing that from then on the team’s mentality changed, he singled out the best teammates he had in Thessalonica, while he also mentioned his… shore.
What he said in detail
– the players he would choose from that PAOK team as… technical director: “If I could I would pick the whole team, we had a very strong set and I would pick almost all of them. If I had to choose someone now, first would be Vieirinia, second would be Paschalakis, Prijovic as well because he scored a lot of goals in that period. I really liked Pelkas as a footballer. Add Biseshwar too».
– the equalizer against Panionios in 2017: “There is a lot of history behind this goal, I remember we had a training session with another coach. Then comes Lucescu, he didn’t know the footballers. We are excluded from the Europa League qualifiers. His ideas were great but the players wanted time to digest them. Thus began a sequence of negative results, we could not win. In this game, if we had lost, Lucescu would have lost his place. The atmosphere was not good and the pressure was increasing».
– the 1-0 winning goal against AEK in 2016: “It was a very difficult game. The match was 0-0 and I scored in the last minute, I celebrated like crazy, the noise of the pitch was deafening. It was something incredible. It was my first season at PAOK».
-the goal with Panaitolikos in 2019: “We go there unbeaten, we were better but back on the scoresheet, Vieirania scored an amazing goal to equalise. Then I scored and thanks to this win, we kept the distance from Olympiakos and we were calm because we left them behind».
– the match against Benfica even if it was a missed opportunity: “We missed a big chance against Benfica, we managed the difficult part with a draw in Portugal (1-1 at “da Luz”). We come to Toumba, in front of an incredible atmosphere of our fans, we led 1-0 but then I don’t know what happened. We lost 4-1, it was a very big opportunity to play in the Champions League groups. That was all I missed with PAOK».
– the fact that he did not finish his career at PAOK: “Until 2019, PAOK had conquered everything. Two championships, but one was not counted, due to the well-known incidents with AEK. We won three cups, so five trophies. Then came Abel Ferreira. Things didn’t go well not only for me but also for the team. When the season ended I had a personal problem with my father’s health. That’s where the idea was born in my mind that it’s probably time to leave in order not to spoil this nice image that I and my teammates had created. It was the perfect time to leave PAOK and return to Brazil to be close to my father. If I had stayed 1-2 more years, my story would not be as perfect as it is now with the club. All the moments with PAOK were intense, everything went perfectly, I wouldn’t change anything».
– whether a title with PAOK stands out: “Everyone was special, but the first cup win was important to change the mentality. Previously players did not know how to claim titles. They went to the team to play and then whatever came up. When we won the first cup with Ivić, who is a good coach, our mentality changed. It was realized that we can conquer everything. The opponents had to fear PAOK, they respected him but they didn’t feel fear before. PAOK is a great team and the respect of our opponents gave us a great mental advantage, we entered the field and knew we were going to win».
– Tyson: “I have known him for many years, I had seen him play in Ukraine with Metalist and Shakhtar, we had played against each other several times. He is a football player with perfect technique and speed. In the 2018 Mundial in Russia he was in Brazil’s squad, when someone in their squad means they have enormous quality. He has performed well lately at Internacional, which is a big club in Brazil, he has all the potential to help PAOK a lot».
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