Brazil’s Olympic coach Rogerio Michale has appealed for calm from his players, ahead of their pivotal clash with Denmark in Salvador on Wednesday evening. After a pair of underwhelming 0-0 draws with South Africa and Iraq so far in the group stage, Brazil must beat Denmark to qualify for the knockout stages.
The Brazil side have looked overwhelmed by the pressure in their two 0-0 draws in Brasília, but Rogerio wants his side to relax for the Denmark encounter, “It is important to maintain control,” he said in a press conference.
“We have to continue working and talking because qualification only depends on us. A victory over Denmark guarantees that we are in the next phase. So we need to be calm at this time.” Michale insists that his group remains very talented, despite the two poor performances so far.
“There have been questions asked, but I still think we have great players, I still believe that. But we need to work. The world has evolved a lot, everyone has lots of information now. Football is scrutinised by everyone and it is easier to destroy players than it is to build them up.
“We ask the team to be determined, compact and look for the ball, to find that confidence, we haven’t found that yet. There is frustration, but the time of mourning must end now . We will strengthen. Criticism is normal and even deserved. We do not run away from that. But we want to give our answer in Salvador. We should be strong there and qualify.”
