Raúl: “We believed until the end”

The Sport Lisboa e Benfica played, this Saturday night, the Matchweek 29 of Liga NOS. Against Vitória de Setúbal, away, the eagles suffered a goal in the first minutes, but Raúl – called to the starting XI to replace Jonas– scored twice and operated the comeback.

Costinha, at 3’, scored the first of the match. Raúl, at 28’, after a cross by Rafa, made the equalizer, and at 90’, after a penalty, operated the comeback.

“First of all, I want to congratulate the team because we believed until the end. The match has 90 minutes, plus the added time and the match only ends after the referee’s whistle! It was a difficult but fair victory and we have achieved our goal”, said Raúl, at the end of the match.

The Mexican striker was called to the match after Jonas got injured during the warm-up, and demonstrated that, just like his teammates, he is focused and ready to play and to help the team whenever he is called.

“We never want these things to happen. But it was demonstrated that with focus and hard work we can do it well. I was lucky to score twice today, but we are all ready. Most of all, it was a great team work”, declared the Mexican.

Raúl scored the second with a penalty… And Raúl never missed a penalty. What is the secret?

“The secret to score is to have confidence and to know that I´m not going to fail. In addition, it is necessary to have security and peace of mind”.

In the next round there will be a “clássico” in the Cathedral, between Sport Lisboa e Benfica and FC Porto. The match will be held next Sunday, April 15, at 6:00 pm.

Text: Sónia Antunes

Pics: Tânia Paulo / SL Benfica