Author: Soorya G
Veteran midfielder Diego Souza revealed that he knew he wouldn’t be part of Sport Recife’s line-up to face Criciúma. The player arrived at Ilha do Retiro almost an hour after the delegation, accompanied by his son, and went straight to the stadium’s changing rooms. Shortly afterwards, he briefly answered two questions, confirming that his debut was only scheduled for the next match, against ABC.
“We never set a date to return or make his debut for Sport. I trained for the first week and I’m in the process of improving my physical performance. On the pitch, I’ll have to live up to expectations, and it was decided last week that I would train hard this week, whether I could be useful or not. But the certainty is that it would be for ABC.“
The attacking midfielder’s situation has become a controversial topic this week due to the expectation created for his debut in the number 87 shirt against Criciúma. However, Diego Souza has just completed his first week of training with the first team and so the club’s plans, as stated by the board, were to only use him next week against ABC.
“It was agreed and we are following the scheduled timetable. But the most important thing is the team’s focus; Sport needs to win. We have an extremely important game. We need to gather our energy to win the match“, said the player, referring to the match against Criciúma on Saturday.
Diego Souza leaned on the fence that separates the dressing room exit from the Ilha do Retiro parking lot and then got up to return to the stadium. The player also interacted with some of the fans who were there. At the time, when asked how he was coping with the fans’ demands for his debut, the attacking midfielder calmly dismissed all the rumors.
“I’m working. I just want to be able to go out on the pitch and meet everyone’s expectations” said Diego Souza, smiling, before returning to the dressing room with his son.