Famalicão manager Hugo Oliveira expressed pride in his team despite a 0-0 draw away at Estrela da Amadora on Monday night. Describing the performance as “extremely competent,” Oliveira lamented an unjust result and thanked the traveling fans for their support. The draw leaves Famalicão outside the top four, while Estrela da Amadora earned another point in their fight for survival.
A game more important than the standings
“Today the table means nothing to us. What matters is looking at the game we played, as we have been living match by match, week by week, consistently.”
An opponent that ‘just defended’
“To say it was another extremely competent game, extremely positive from our side. We controlled the entire game, were extremely secure in our approach against an opponent who just defended, cutting off the paths to our finishing opportunities. We had a lot of calmness, a lot of patience to find spaces, and we did find them.”
What was missing for the win
“I think the only thing missing today was the ball hitting the back of the net. If it had, we would have won fairly. So it’s really unfair to the players, really unfair to our fans, after the game we had here today, not to leave with a win. But that’s football. We have to maintain our humility, maintain our work ethic, our great attitude, and understand once again that it’s this attitude, this honesty that has brought us here and will take us into the future. And the future is another extremely difficult game.”
11 games playing to win
“We gave the opponent no chances whatsoever. Another clean sheet, that’s what we’re saying. That’s another game in this run of 11. I think we need to highlight that.”
“We can never fail to be proud when a team like Famalicão can go 11 games without losing. And 11 games without losing, but playing to win, it’s important to say that. Because we never played to earn just one point, wherever we were, in those 11 games, including matches against Benfica, at the champions’ stadium, and at Sp. Braga’s stadium.”
The tireless fans
“What hurts me are the many fans who traveled all these kilometers on a Monday night, missing part of their Monday, with work tomorrow. I think they deserved to leave here today with a win. I think they deserved to leave with three points.”
Building a good season
“We leave here convinced that we earned a point. A point that’s important in the standings, because we are growing. Big walls, big houses, are built from small bricks. Another brick in the construction of our house, and we also leave convinced that we played a safe game. A game within our process. We always controlled the game, dominated, and created chances to finish. Obviously we should have finished. That’s a detail we will continue to work on to improve. So that next weekend we can score goals and win.”
Pride in the ‘lads’
“I feel extremely proud of what the team has been doing, and as I say, the lads deserve to finish positively, and they will finish that way, I’m convinced of it.”
