Palmeiras: meeting on Friday could define Abel’s future – 12/07/2023 – Sports

A meeting scheduled for this Friday (8) between Abel Ferreira, 44, and the management of Palmeiras could begin to define the future of the coach, who won another Brazilian Championship with the club.

The Portuguese coach should take advantage of the meeting to take stock of 2023 at the helm of the team and also to outline priorities for the next season.

“The club knows what it has to do, what are the positions in which we have to hire, which players can be sold and which cannot leave at all,” said Abel, after the match that secured the team’s 12th Brazilian title. alviverde. “On Friday [o planejamento] it will be handed over to the management, and, from then on, I will go on vacation”, said the coach, who has a contract until December 2024.

“I have a contract, and contracts are to be fulfilled. The clauses that are there are to be fulfilled, for both sides”, said the coach. One of the clauses, of course, is termination.

When participating in ESPN’s Bola de Prata award ceremony, this Thursday (7), Abel indicated that he has a good chance of remaining at the club in 2024. “I think so,” he replied, asked if he will continue at Palmeiras.

The coach also stated that money is not what moves him at the moment. In recent weeks, Al Sadd, from Qatar, became the most likely club among the candidates to pay the fine of €3 million (R$15 million) to take the Portuguese.

“It’s still true that I have a good contract here, but I want to have time to spend my money,” said Abel, who complained about the game calendar in Brazilian football, with a sequence considered excessively exhausting. “The most important thing is that I have to rest my head, and the decision could be to go home. Stay at home and rest,” said the Portuguese.

President of Palmeiras, Leila Pereira said that she will do everything possible to maintain the coach’s successful work.

“We haven’t talked about it yet [permanência para 2024], but fans can be sure of one thing: I will do everything possible and impossible for him to stay at Palmeiras for many years,” said Leila. “Abel has a contract with us until December 2024, and I believe he will to fulfill. He is a very serious professional.”

The Portuguese coach showed signs that the charges he receives, in the wake of the success he achieved at the helm of Palmeiras, cause discomfort.

“It’s been three years of winning titles consistently, and the more you win, the more the ladder goes up,” said Abel. “When you earn so much, people think you’re perfect. And I’m not perfect.”

The coach arrived at Palmeiras in October 2020, initially with a contract for two seasons, renewed last year until the end of 2024.

Since landing in Brazil, after playing for PAOK, in Greece, the Portuguese player has won nine titles: two Brazilians (2022 and 2023), two Copa Libertadores (2020 and 2021), two Paulistas (2022 and 2023), one Copa do Brasil ( 2020), a South American Recopa (2022) and a Brazilian Super Cup (2023). Ahead of Abel among the team’s most successful coaches is only Oswaldo Brandão, with 10 achievements.

“We are victims of our own success, and I don’t know if Palmeiras fans are prepared for this coach to lose,” said Abel, leaving the fans without a concrete answer about his future.

In the Mineirão locker room celebrating the Brazilian title, however, another sign that staying could be the final choice. “I’m not going to say goodbye to anyone, because I don’t have to say goodbye to anyone,” said the Portuguese to the cast and coaching staff present.