Fernando Diniz’s assistant explains why Calegari took the penalty against Botafogo: ‘Field decision’

Silence in Fluminense after the defeat in the classic to Botafogo, this Sunday, in Maracanã. The tricolor players did not speak to the press in the mixed zone and coach Fernando Diniz was unable to attend the press conference because he was expelled in the classic. With that, it was left to assistant coach Eduardo Barros to give the answers desired by the fans. Among them, explaining why Calegari took the penalty that the tricolor had in favor, and not Paulo Henrique Ganso or Jhon Arias.

— After all the training sessions, practically every day several players take penalty kicks. Calegari is one of those players. You know we have a lead hitter, but in a field decision, it ended up not hitting the lead hitter. We also have another possibility, another player, he didn’t hit. In this circumstantial decision, who ended up being the scout was Calegari, as you all saw – declared Eduardo Barros, continuing his explanation.

— Who was Fluminense’s main scorer last season? If he keeps the cast, he [Paulo Henrique Ganso] is the main collector. […] He made the decision. It was not the priority decision. But it was a field decision that we had to respect. […] It is difficult to pinpoint an explanation at this point. We need to digest this result that did not favor us. Unfortunately, it was decisive for the result of the classic – he completed.

Eduardo Barros also spoke about Calegari’s mental side, which appeared downcast after the missed penalty. In addition, he explained the absence of reinforcements Jorge and Vitor Mendes from the related list.

— Despite Calegari, he will have to be mature to deal with criticism. It was a moment of unhappiness that he went through today. Since the beginning, we’ve made significant changes to the teams that have been starting games. For the derby we brought in some young players. We needed to take out some who played the last match. That’s why we removed Marrony, Jorge and Vitor Mendes.