″He had dinner at the coach’s house″

Statements by the Sporting coach, in a press conference ahead of the meeting with Rio Ave, scheduled for next Monday (21:15) and referring to the 19th round of the Bwin League

About the opponent: “Rio Ave plays good football. They have some problems because they want to play with the goalkeeper. It’s difficult to catch the two midfielders when they are open. I expect a very difficult game. Rio Ave wants to play football. We have to tire Rio Ave. We’re fine, even if they want to tire us out. The 1×1 will be decisive and we have to be better, because we’re Sporting. It’s a difficult game, against a coach who won at all levels.”

Will Chermiti be in the starting lineup? “We’re going to play with everything, obviously. The forward shouldn’t be known. Nuno Santos is going to play and he’s going to start, it’s going to be him and ten others. But that doesn’t mean he’s an absolute starter. There won’t be savings.”

Jovane ended up staying at Sporting: “He could go out to play more. He didn’t. He’s staying with us. It’s okay, he had dinner at the coach’s house. He has to train well. If he has to play, he’ll play.”

More about Chermiti: “Chermiti was a little better than Rodrigo Ribeiro. Mateus Fernandes was here, behaved well and returned to B. Anyone who doesn’t have space here and is small, goes to B. Players do their homework. If others players, with status, left the team, the kids even more. Chermiti, in each training session, runs more. Either he works at the limit or he doesn’t have a chance. Until now, he has always exceeded expectations. He talks to his colleagues, like Rodrigo Ribeiro or Mateus Fernandes.”