Flamengo manager Jayme de Almeida acknowledged, after his teams away Copa Libertadores success on Wednesday night, that you can’t always play attractive football to win.
Almeida believes sometimes in the Libertadores you just have to fight and battle your way to victory rather than play the style of football normally associated with Fla.
He told Lancenet: “Flamengo played at pace and in the way you can play in the Libertadores. There are times that you can play cute, others not.
“Above all, you have to have a lot of heart, a lot of will and fight the whole time. The boys behaved in a big way.
“The most striking thing was the spirit of the group. They played this match with soul, heart and intelligence. We was solid in defence and good on the counter-attack, we are happy.”
Before the Flamengo manager went on to praise his squad some more, adding: “I’m glad to be working with his group. They have surprised me with their belief that anything is possible.
“We have not qualified yet, we know we have a difficult match against León, which is dangerous, but this victory gives us the strength to play in the Maracanã with the crowd and fight.”
