‘He only played both games because I asked him’

This Saturday (28), Athletico Paranaense won, by 3 to 0, and, with that, took the fourth position in the Brasileirão. After the match, coach Abel Ferreira gave a press conference and praised midfielder Ramires, who had his contract with Verdão terminated last Friday (27).

– They are talking about Ramires and chicken skin gives me goosebumps here. I don’t know what Ramires did here. Today, as a team, we promised that we would win this match and we would dedicate it to Ramires. Unfortunately, today there is a drug in our society called social networks and we judge people without knowing them. He is a fantastic human being, who by chance had a bad stage in his career here at Palmeiras, but who, since my arrival, has helped our team a lot.

The coach also spoke about the athlete’s departure, who did not have a good time at Palmeiras, but who, according to the Portuguese, would “turn into a swan.”

– He only played these two games because I asked him to, because the team needed them. In my opinion, as I was saying, this ugly duckling is still going to turn into a swan, but the truth is that he had in mind what he wanted as a man. It was a decision that has already been made between him and the club. It was her decision and I respect her. He is a player I played against. He is a player who has an absolutely extraordinary career, he played for the best clubs in Europe, for the national team, he won titles, and it is true, he spent less time here, but we are talking about a player who is 33 years old. This whole victory is for the Ramires man, someone I admired as a player, and now I admire as a coach.

Ramires joined Palmeiras in 2019 but did little in his first year at the club. In the current season, however, he won minutes and, with that, reached a total of 45 games in Verdão, in addition to scoring a goal and beating Paulistão 2020.