Palmeiras title serves to ‘shut up’, says Veiga – 04/09/2023 – Sport

Palmeiras players used the title party to counter criticism. The squad experienced days of tension after the defeat to Água Santa by 2-1 in the first match of the final of the Paulista Championship, last week.

This Sunday (9), the alviverde team thrashed 4-0 and won their third state title in the last four years. But the complaints about the apathetic performance in Barueri, last week, bothered the athletes.

“It was once again to shut the mouths of many people. This is Palmeiras!”, vented Raphael Veiga, who felt injured in the first half and was replaced after the break.

“Our team is one that above all knows itself, knows what it can do. We are humble in recognizing when we are not doing well, as happened in the first game. Many things happened [na última semana]only who is there [do clube] know, but we knew how to be consistent”, he added.

The referred criticisms grew in the middle of the week, when Palmeiras was defeated in La Paz, by Bolívar, by 3 to 1, in the debut in the Copa Libertadores. To spare the starters for the São Paulo final, coach Abel Ferreira decided to choose the reserves. It was a risk calculated by the certainty that it was important to be champion and there was plenty of time to qualify for the continental tournament.

“We had a championship of consistency. Our team has been disputing titles and winning part of them. We showed that we are well prepared physically, mentally, and we are able to reverse any result. When Abel arrived, he brought an idea. Here there were already winning athletes, others who arrived were too. We consecrated ourselves as a winning team that enters to fight up there”, said midfielder Zé Rafael.

Despite the climate of revenge, there was recognition that Palmeiras left something to be desired in the defeat in Barueri, which made the mission at Allianz Parque more difficult. In the list of the last three state titles, won from 2020 onwards, it was Alviverde’s second turnaround. Last year, after defeating São Paulo by 3-1 in the first game of the decision, Abel Ferreira’s team thrashed at home by 4-0.

“Day after day, training after training, our will was incomparable. Everything went well. In the first game, we entered unfocused, as if we weren’t Palmeiras. The year is just beginning. Gabriel Menino, scorer of two goals and the main highlight of the team this Sunday.

In the afternoon of answers, there was also Endrick’s share. The 16-year-old striker, criticized for his lack of goals, scored one (as he had already done in the first decision) and was also one of the best on the pitch. He had complained about the attention he has received from the media since his youth days.

“I have three out of three. There are three disputed championships and three titles as a professional. I think I’m ready to be a starter for the sub-20”, ironized the 16-year-old striker.

Endrick was part of last year’s Brazilian champion squad and the 2023 Brazilian Super Cup.

Abel Ferreira opined that the São Paulo press can be very strict.

“That’s not just me, but as long as I’m winning, they’re gobbling up.”