For the first time in the history of the Ecuadorian team SS Bocca qualified for the semifinals of CONMEBOL Libertadores Futsal 2023, after defeating Barrancas Central in a penalty shootout (4)1-1 (5) this Thursday at Poliedro de Caracas.
Part of the credit falls on the shoulders of the Venezuelan coach José Ferrer who has guided the team in all stages of the competition and has come out unscathed in each duel until reaching this stage of the tournament.
Bocca wants to go for more
“We are taking a step forward, we are going to build history based on what we do in the semifinals. The board of directors has done a great job to be able to create this team and the work that the boys have done has been excellent”, said the Venezuelan in the mixed zone.
The furthest the franchise has come is to the quarterfinals in 2017, at that time it was the best participation of an Ecuadorian club in Libertadores Futsal.
During the 40 minutes of matches, the duel remained close after a draw on the score of 1-1. To determine the winner of the clash, both squads went to the penalty spot where there was a lot of tension.
Before the round began, Ferrer met with his team on the pitch. “I told the goalkeeper to save just one goal that the five of us were going to do it” and he jokingly added “that's more of a motivation because I guess I don't have anything”.
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“Barracas has a great team, good job. These games are for that, to play it intelligently, I think that was the secret there, what we proposed in the previous one was what resulted in the small court and thank God we achieved the result”, commented the strategist.
The next challenge for the tricolor quintet will be this Saturday against the current champion, Cascavel.
“All the rivals are difficult, it only remains to think and analyze to plan the game against the Brazilians. Now we have to celebrate and then we will think about the rival ”, he concluded.
