Palmeiras head coach Abel Ferreira says making apologies doesn’t help people grow in regards to the challenges Al Ahly and Pitso Mosimane has faced.
The Brazilian giants who have won back-to-back Copa Libertadores secured revenge over Ahly – who pipped them to third place at the FIFA Club World Cup last year – to secure a final in the 2021 edition.
After beating the Red Devils 2-0, he mentioned in the post-match press conference that all top clubs face major schedule headaches which makes them stronger for future objectives.
“Well with regard to organisation and how many matches take place or not, well it’s all up to FIFA, all we do is follow the rules, regulations and schedule and we play the matches, we don’t argue with them,” he said in response to iDiski Times question.
“I think making apologies does not help us grow, we have to deal with the hand that we’re dealt. I have always been taught to turn weakness into strengths and that’s what I’d like to think of any challenges that comes up.
“We have to make them opportunities. It’s funny that you’d ask in the first part of your question I think the secret to this match was to be humble toward our opponents just as they were toward Monterrey.
“They came with a lot of humility and that’s how they won the Champions League. We have to respect them, every detail counts, focusing on each task makes all the difference but as I said, we were a mature, skilled team and very competitive.”
Mosimane himself also stated that the defeat was not down to the circumstances but rather individual tactical errors from his players.
“We spoke about all these issues before the match, there’s no reason to talk about it again, we can’t always say those are the reasons that really made us lose. The first goal was a tactical mistake from my players,” he said after the match.
“We shouldn’t make an excuse when two guys go for one ball, it’s a tactical issue, the second goal, of course, we were fighting to go [forward] – obviously we’ll be open a bit and with their quality, they’ll score a goal.
“It’s the way it is, it’s going to be like that again even next year, so you have to keep going and we have a medal to play for, we were in the same situation last year.
“So it’s not all lost, we should try and get a medal for the continent, it will be the same one if we win but, we have to try more and come again next year, try and do better, football is life and we must accept it.”
The Red Devils will now contest for third place while Palmeiras will be in the final – with Al Hilal and Chelsea set for the second semi-final this evening at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium (18h30).
Story by Lorenz Kohler (@Lorenz_KO), who reports from the Club World Cup thanks to World Sports Betting.
