"Believe until the end": the players' reactions

Benfica's players discussed the match with Chelsea, a game in the last 16 of the Club World Cup that ended 1-4 (after extra time) in favor of the London team. The match, which saw the Reds bid farewell to the competition, took place on Saturday, June 28 at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

Otamendi, Aursnes, Tiago Gouveia and Barreiro analyzed a difficult match, marked by a prolonged stoppage (around two hours) due to the weather conditions and a sending-off in extra time, which made the task more difficult.

OTAMENDI

"We never stopped looking for the result"

"Like all defeats, it's complicated, difficult, sad, because we wanted to move on. But that's soccer. I think we had chances to score, and they did too. With one player less it's more complicated, but we never stopped looking for the result, trying to hold on and also scoring goals. It was a difficult game, and when they scored the 2nd goal it all went downhill. [What lacked to get the win] When you're down a player, everything becomes more difficult, but we kept trying. We had chances, we could have converted them, and they did too. That's soccer, unfortunately we fell by the wayside. And now it's time to rest up and try to start next season in the best possible way. [Game interruption] The weather here is complicated. We were off for an hour and a half, but it was the same for both teams. We started again and tried to get the result. We had the chance to tie the game, which was good. We went into extra time a player down. We were still level in the first half, but they scored, and everything became more difficult. [Contract renewal] I'm happy because I'm at a great club. That wasn't a problem, it was a matter of time. My focus was on this competition. I always try to be respectful and give my all to help the team perform at its best, I try to encourage the younger players. I'm very happy to be able to stay at this club for another year. I'll always be grateful to them for opening their doors for me to continue competing. [A word for Di María] I have a friendly relationship with Ángel [Di María]. He's a legend for Argentina and for this institution. His career speaks for itself. As a colleague and friend, I will obviously miss him. I always wish him and his family the best. I hope he continues to enjoy football."

AURSNES

"We wanted to stay here longer"

"I think it was difficult when they made it 1-2. We came back, after waiting in the locker room for so long, but it was a good sign that we came back. We also created a lot of chances when we were down to 10 men. Unfortunately, we lost in the end. [Benfica's 60th match of the season] Of course we wanted to stay here for longer. They've been very demanding games here. It's very hot, the humidity is different, and we're not used to it. But I think it's the same for everyone, and we handled it well. In the end, we were eliminated. I think Chelsea played a very good game and created a lot of chances. We also had a few chances, but in the end we were eliminated."

TIAGO GOUVEIA

"The team is very sad"

"[The team's feeling] It was a difficult day, a tough night for us. We were very confident that we could come away with a win. The team is sad, it's heartbroken. We were, as I said, very confident, we believed that we could go on. It wasn't possible, and there's not much to say at the moment. The game was challenging, then, with the sending off, with the stoppage, it was a mixture of many things that happened. Unfortunately, it didn't work out for us. As I said, the team is very sad and heartbroken [Message for the remaining 5 minutes] The message was to believe until the end, because it was five minutes, plus extra time, and we had everything to get at least a draw and take the game to extra time, and that's what we did. There was fresh energy from the bench, it went well in those first few minutes. Unfortunately, we were sent off in a perfectly normal ball dispute, but I haven't seen the play yet. I think it's true, I don't know. I'd like to say a word and also a hug to Prestianni, who has apologized to us. He doesn't have to apologize, because these are things that happen, but I think he was the worst of the lot. But it wasn't his fault, not by a long shot, it was the whole team's fault, and to send him a hug. [Prolonged interruption] From what happened in the game, I think the stoppage helped us, it gave the team time to rest, to align the pieces a bit for what we were going to do in the last 5 or 10 minutes. It went well and then, in extra time, it was the story that it was, a sending-off that made our task a little more difficult. We still had chances to score, but we couldn't do it. Then the 3rd and 4th goals were goals that came from a very abnormal situation in the game, with us trying to go forward with one less, a bit more with our hearts, of course. We were at a disadvantage and the goals came from that. [Di María's farewell] We can only thank Di María. I grew up watching Di María play, it was a great pleasure, I never thought I'd have a player like him in the same locker room as me, I had that privilege, a very humble person, an incredible player. Personally, I'm going to miss him a lot, because he's an incredible person. Me and the whole group, certainly. I wish him all the best in his life, which I'll continue to follow. May he be very happy, and here he'll have another friend to cheer him on."

BARREIRO

"We had to give everything for the goal, and that's what we did"

"[Análise do jogo] Difficult, difficult. It wasn't our best start to the game, but we still tried to stay as compact as possible. The opposition had one or two chances. They were in our area more than we probably thought. Even so, we managed to stay calm and hold on. Then we conceded the goal.[Game interruption] The stoppage time made it even more difficult because we were looking for a goal in the last few minutes. The stoppage was annoying, having to stay in the locker room for two hours. We knew there was nothing to lose, we had to give everything and go for the goal. And that's what we did. [Emotions experienced] It's very annoying to have to stop the game... At the beginning we were told it was half an hour, then we had to get ready to leave and another half hour, then get ready to leave, and again, 40 minutes, it's very annoying. You completely leave the game, it's very annoying. [The goal that won extra time] Mentally, we knew there were five minutes left, plus extra time, and we had to go for the goal, give everything. There wasn't long to go, we believed and scored our goal and, with that confidence, we also went into extra time.[Weight of sent off] We were already tired, Chelsea were tired too. During the game we had to defend a lot and, with one player less, of course it was going to be more difficult. Even so, we managed to have two or three great chances to score, but unfortunately today [Saturday] it didn't work out."