Sporting and Porto battle on Saturday for a place in the Champions League Hockey League final, with the 'Lions' wanting to be true to their ideas and the Dragons anticipating a match to be decided in the details.
The competition will open with a semi-final match between the two teams, scheduled for 12:00 noon, at Pavelhão Rosa Mota Stadium in Porto, and the coaches and captains of the two teams awaited that match, in a joint press conference.
The conference began at the venue where the final stage of the 2023/24 Champions League will be held, which was praised by everyone and which hosted the final of the competition 24 years ago, which was played between the Portuguese club FC Porto and the Spanish club FC Barcelona, and was won by the Portuguese team. Catalan team (2-3).
Leonin's coach, Alejandro Domínguez, stated that “hockey deserves a scenario” like this, and Sporting's captain and goalkeeper, Angelo Girao, supported this opinion, recalling that he was one of the spectators present at that final and concluded that he was a “symbolic winger”.
“I was also in that final,” Porto captain Gonzalo Alves revealed, agreeing that the stadium had “the necessary conditions for a great final stage,” an idea also shared by Porto coach Ricardo Ares.
Angelo Girao then spoke about the match, saying that “his team knows all the difficulties it will face”, and Goncalo Alves said that he hopes to “have a lot of fans” alongside his team, as the match will be held in Porto.
A source from the organization told Lusa that the Sporting-Porto match will be “sold out”, meaning that 2,600 spectators will be present at the Pavelhão Rosa Mota.
For Ricardo Ares, “these matches are decided in the details, in very small things”, and FC Porto needs maximum “concentration”.
In response to a question about whether he felt any special pressure for this match, the Porto coach replied, “Porto’s ambition is to win all titles.”
European champions FC Porto have already won the Portuguese Cup this year, beating OK de Barcelos 3-2 in the final, but for Gonzalo Alves that “doesn't give anything for Saturday”, in the semi-final against Sporting.
Ricardo Ares said: “We are happy with the moment the team is going through,” noting that “the past, whether good or bad, is of no use in the present.”
Alejandro Dominguez said that “during the preparation for the semi-final match” with Porto, he did not abandon what he said, without specifying, was the “DNA” of his team.
“We never give up on our ideas, and we know that we will face the European champion who is experiencing a wonderful moment,” said the Argentine coach.
In addition to winning the Portuguese Cup, the “Dragon” finished the regular stage of the national championship in first place.
Ricardo Ares believes there will be “no surprises” in how his teams will present themselves in the battle for a place in this season's edition of the Champions Hockey League.
The second semi-final match between OK de Barcelos and Oliverense will be held at the same location, at 4:30 p.m.
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