The coach laments the elimination from the Taça de Portugal

In the aftermath of the defeat for Sporting Clube de Portugal at the hands of Varzim SC in the Taça de Portugal, Rúben Amorim analysed the cup elimination in his post-match press conference.

"We controlled almost the entire game, as is normal in the circumstances. We often reached the last third, but showed an inability to score and to make good decisions. One of the few balls that came near our goal went in and made everything more difficult," he stated.

"Sometimes it's easy in the cup, but I felt that my players didn't make it easy for themselves. They showed an inability to score goals."

After revealing that "there will be no attack on the transfer market in January, the coach explained that Sporting CP "have kids in training and need to start another cycle like we did in the coaching staff's first year here."

"We are a little limited in ideas, but the responsibility belongs to the coach. Then there are phases in which everything bad happens, and it seems to me that this is a phase like that. It becomes difficult to explain," he added.
Finally, Amorim set out the plan for turning things around.

"Winning games. We all know what it's like at a club like Sporting CP. The recent past was similar and we know the impact it has on people and those responsible, like me. The only thing that we can do is win games and keep a cool head. This will be resolved, but not now. Now, it's about looking ahead and trying to support the players. I'm aware of that, and I have the strength for it."

The team lose 1-0 to Varzim SC

Sporting Clube de Portugal fell to a shock defeat to Varzim SC in the Taça de Portugal, exiting the competition in the Third Round stage.

Coach Rúben Amorim made several changes to the starting XI, rotating his squad to bring in José Marsà, Pedro Porro, Sotiris Alexandropoulos and Paulinho. They replaced Sebastián Coates, Ricardo Esgaio, Manuel Ugarte and Pedro Gonçalves, who had started against Olympique Marseille.

Notable on the substitutes bench was the presence of Jovane Cabral, in his first involvement of 2022/2023, and youngsters Diogo Travassos and Renato Veiga. 

As expected, Sporting CP had more of the ball and put Varzim SC on the ropes early In the eighth minute, Francisco Trincao shot over the top and, shortly after, Gonçalo Inácio had his first great scoring opportunity: Off a corner kick from Nuno Santos, the defender headed just a few centimeters over the crossbar.

A Trincão header wide was followed by Varzim SC starting to move forward, with Paulo Moreira shooting unsuccessfully from a direct free kick.

Around half an hour in, Trincão appeared to be in an excellent position to score, but was unable to get the shot off well. A few minutes later, Pedro Porro ran well down the right and fired a shot that bounced off the post.

Both Sotiris Alexandropoulos and Hidemasa Morita tried their luck from outside the area before the interval, but the game went into halftime with the score at 0-0.

The start of the second half saw two changes: The appearance of rain and the introduction of Pedro Gonçalves in place of Sotiris Alexandropoulos. In the opening minutes, Nuno Santos shot from distance, wide of the post.

In the 54th minute, Varzim SC threatened off a free kick on the right, which Julián Bonilla headed into the mixer and Bruno Bernardo deflected out.

Sporting CP once again created danger, as Paulinho had two consecutive attacks and Morita hit a powerful drive off target.

Manuel Ugarte and Fatawu came in for Marcus Edwards and Pedro Porro, with Gonçalves moving into the attacking trio. In one of his first interventions, Fatawu struck into the side netting.

Against the run of play, Varzim SC scored in the 70th minute. Following a free kick on the right, an interception by Paulinho sent the ball to the far post, where João Faria got the final deflection and made it 1-0 to the home team.

With a quarter of an hour to go, Amorim brought in Rochinha. Close to the 90th minute, Cabral had his turn to play his first minutes of the campaign, replacing Nuno Santos.

Sporting CP pushed for the equaliser, but it was not to be and Varzim SC eliminated them from the Taça de Portugal.

Sporting CP: Franco Israel [GR], Gonçalo Inácio [C], José Marsà, Matheus Reis, Pedro Porro (Fatawu, 59'), Sotiris Alexandropoulos (Pedro Gonçalves, 46'), Hidemasa Morita (Rochinha, 76'), Nuno Santos (Jovane Cabral, 84'), Francisco Trincao, Marcus Edwards (Manuel Ugarte, 59') and Paulinho.

The coach reflects on elimination from the Taça de Portugal

After the defeat against FC Porto (1-0) that confirmed Sporting Clube de Portugal's elimination from the Taça de Portugal, coach Rúben Amorim analysed the match in his press conference.

"We started the game well, with more ball and employing our style of play. We didn't have many chances, but we had control and from certain balls we could have been better. FC Porto were having more success from second balls and waiting for our mistakes. Up until the 60th minute, we had the opportunity for Matheus [Nunes], but from then on the game became stagnant and FC Porto managed to make things difficult for us. When you have difficulties putting the ball upfield, it doesn't matter what characteristics the players have," he began by telling journalists at the Estádio do Dragão.

"Looking at both legs, FC Porto were the better side". Focusing on a week he considered "difficult", the coach looked back on his journey at the club so far: "Everyone has to be prepared at Sporting CP and we all have to pull in the same direction, because we know that we came here at a low point and what we did was take decisions. What happened today was football, and I can handle that better; not being competitive is what makes things difficult for me to handle."

Now, the objective that is on the horizon is "to guarantee second place in the league".

"Without that, we will have taken two steps back. Obviously, the fans are not happy and neither are we, but now I have my mind on the next trophy," he said, before reinforcing: "We know what we have to do. We have the clear objective to maintain this project."

Finally, Amorim highlighted that the team "still have a lot to improve," although he considers that Sporting CP "are much more of a team than last year."

"If there's a team in Portugal that has an idea of how they play, it's Sporting CP, and the players give everything. Today we lacked quality. I took a lot from this and the last game; we had a lot to learn and so did I," he concluded.