Diniz celebrates São Paulo’s qualification and says: “We create stronger ties with pressure from abroad” | Saint Paul

Qualified for the semifinals, Tricolor will face Grêmio on December 23 and 30. The mandates have not yet been defined.

Renato Gaúcho, coach of the gaúcho team, is the longest-serving in Serie A, and Fernando Diniz is the second (just over a year at Morumbi).

– I don’t think it will change (the mentality of Brazilian football with the coaches). Renato is not here because he is long-lived, he is here because he arrived and has already won. The Copa do Brasil, then the Libertadores, then reached the semifinals of the Libertadores and won the state ones. In São Paulo he is a more practical and assertive example than Grêmio. This year I had a lot of pressure moments here. But then there was a board – said Diniz.

– We get together more and more and we strengthen ourselves so that things happen. São Paulo is an example that when you have something you believe in, you have to keep it. I am not in favor of everyone having to stay. The choice is the main one and then you give it support and give it a reasonable time to make it happen. There is no miracle. You have work – finished.

Diniz believes that the way the club dealt with the charges internally brought the São Paulo players together to live this moment now.

– The players were the same and they defended themselves because they deserved it. They are the same players and they are being praised because they are good. When he lost, it wasn’t bad. As for the São Paulo moment, we are heading towards a great moment. We are improving relationships. The main thing about the team was in the acute moments in which we had pressure to unite more and more and bring out the best in each one and not the worst, as the rule would suggest – he said.

– The normal thing was that the equipment was destroyed and everything changed. What you have in Brazilian soccer. In São Paulo, we managed to strengthen ties with pressure from abroad. Today the team responds well on the field because of what they knew how to go through together in bad times. A more united and cohesive team of players who like to live together. And they know that they always have to do their best.

Diniz also responded about whether qualifying against a strong team like Flamengo gives more peace of mind to the order of work. In the Brasileirão, São Paulo is third, with 36 points, and has three games less.

– I don’t know the size of the weight. But to work in São Paulo you have to work under pressure. In the most acute moments of pressure we knew how to unite, we knew what we wanted and we knew the strength we had. This will reduce the external pressure, but we have to work as we have done so far. They still have things to improve, there is a great rival on Sunday (Vasco, in Morumbi). It is working well to go well in both competitions – said Diniz.

Regarding the game against Flamengo, Diniz praised the team’s defensive work. After eight consecutive games conceding goals, São Paulo came off the field unscathed against Flamengo, who lost a penalty to Vitinho.

– The team scored very well. We had difficulties in the first half, but the defense knew how to behave very well. The team knows how to score, but it is circumstantial, as in the game against Fortaleza we suffered from a dead ball. But today in the defensive part we had an almost impeccable game.

See the best moments of São Paulo 3 x 0 Flamengo: