Abel Braga, his past and future
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What memories do you have of your experience as a player at Paris Saint Germain and as coach at Marseilles?
[photo=abel.jpg id=157 align=right]Abel Braga
My time as player at PSG was fantastic. It was the first time I left Brazil to work, with a signed contract. At the time it was a great challenge to me because I arrived in Paris not speaking a word of French. It was a very good experience, that gave me the chance to me to learn another type of football culture, which I perceived as been faster with stronger marking. In 2000, I was fascinated with my experiences as coach at Marseilles. I used a game system that was little used in France and has since been used very often, in the country. I will have memories until the day I die of the supporters fanatism. To attend a game in Marseilles is to participate in a spectacle. I left lamenting, but if I have the chance to come back one day, who knows…
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What are the differences in methods of training in Brazil and Europe? Is a coach in Europe free to carry through his work more or is it necessary to adapt to rules that are established by the club?
Abel Braga
The coach is the manager. Everything the team does is commanded by him. My coaching method is complete, from the first days of pre season training, to the daily sessions; I took some methods I learnt in Europe back to Brazil; I learnt many new methods working with my assistant coaches.
The great difference between the two countries is that in the daily pre-season we work between 40 and 45 days in Europe, but this number is reduced to 10 or 15 in Brazil, what allows the European players to enter a competition much more prepared than a Brazilian player. One another aspect that differentiates the soccer here is that in Brazil we play more games and thus we training is shorter but more intense. French soccer is has a very refined technique and admirable reasoning.
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Fluminense lost at the end of the Copa do Brazil. In your opinion, what was lacking for the victory and what did the team learn from this defeat?
Abel Braga
We win the Taça Rio and later we were the Carioca champions. We arrived at final of the Copa do Brazil, but we were not happy from the first game because we had 6 players that could not play, which represented a selection of our best players. We were defeated in the first game for 2×0, 3 players came back, but the injuries continued. With all this we were unable to over turn the deficit. But Cup competition is like this all over the world, surprises happen. What it is lamentable is that if we had a full strength team in the first game, we would certainly have obtained a far better result.
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What do you think regarding the new club structure at Fluminense?
Abel Braga
It is a perfect mixture of youth and experience. We normally only contract players who have characteristics that fit well with our work. The contracts are not made in a random way; we only bring in players that we avoid. Our policy has been to not only bring in players of value, but look always to give priority to the younger players who had been discovered at the club.
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If one day you have the chance to coach a French teams, which club would prefer?
Abel Braga
I do not have a preference, but if it was the case I could return to a place that I already know, as it is the case of Paris or Marseilles, then things would be much more easy.
Recommended links:
Abel Braga"s Card
All about Fluminense
Pictures taken at the time of our our travel to Brazil
Fluminense"s oficial site
The special week of Fluminense
