Without mentioning Chelsea, Abel expects David versus Goliath in the final

After Palmeiras qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup final with a 2-0 victory over Al Ahly this Tuesday (8), coach Abel Ferreira said he expects an even greater difficulty in the decision, in which the club will face the winner of the duel between Chelsea and Al Hilal.

Without mentioning the name of the English team, favorite in the dispute against the Saudi Arabia team, the commander of the Palmeiras sees the opponent of the final in advantage.

“It’s David against Goliath. I’ve never sold illusions to anyone, I’ve said it a lot before. It’s true that we’ll see who our opponent will be, let’s wait. I’ll talk about the next game when I know the opponent. What could we control, what had to do , we did”, commented the Portuguese.

Asked specifically whether he preferred to face Chelsea or Al Hilal, Abel deflected. “I’d rather be in the final. We’re going to enjoy it, we’re going to compete and we have a purpose, which is to win.”

For the coach, Palmeiras had a “fair” victory against Al Ahly because they played an “intelligent” game and knew how to work together to pierce the opposing defense. “I think that’s what we did today. We respect the opponent, we follow the plan. I tell them what to do, but that’s only 30%. The rest is their strength, their character.”

Striker Dudu, scorer of the second goal and one of the team’s main players in this confrontation, highlighted Abel’s work in preparing for the World Cup.

“The team did what Abel asked. It scored well and left at speed. We understand each other very well, the team has a lot of quality. Congratulations to the team and fans. When we had to take it easy, we had it. And when we need speed, too. That was the objective, we knew the semifinal would be difficult. A team that wants to be champion cannot choose an opponent”, he said.

The number 7 also praised the partnership with Raphael Veiga, scorer of Palmeiras’ first goal in World Cups. “The people [ele e Veiga] understand very well.”