“They may be losing the goose that lays golden eggs, because the tournament’s largest media product is Neymar,” Luis Alvaro complained to Lancenet!
“He was the competition’s top scorer last year, and is the most recognised player in the world, so they’d lose out if he was injured. Or even if Santos suffer an early exit, they may be disadvantaged that way.”
On Thursday of last week, Santos played against The Strongest in the Libertadores, before a State Championships quarter-final on Sunday and now will travel to Bolivia to play Bolivar on Wednesday night.
That is all before a Paulistão semi-final with rivals São Paulo next Sunday, a game in which the fans will not accept second-best.
“In football, the governing bodies only see their side and not the clubs. They do not realise the wear of travelling long distances and playing at a high intensity.
“On Wednesday we will face more travelling and altitude issues. It’s complicated, but they do not look the side of the athlete.”
