📹 After exit, coach sees a way for Vasco to be great again

This Sunday (8), Vasco fans suffered yet another disappointment this season. After their traumatic elimination from the CONMEBOL Sudamericana against Boca Juniors at a packed Maracanã, the Cruz-Maltino also crashed out of the Copa do Brasil semifinals, this time against Palmeiras on penalties at São Januário. Speaking in the press room afterward, coach Pedro Emanuel expressed pride in Vasco's run in the tournament. The 51-year-old Portuguese coach, who joined the Gigante da Colina in July this year and is under contract until December 2027, stressed that frustrating exits like those Vasco suffered this season are part of the rebuilding process for "teams that were once great and want to be great again" . "Football is as magical as it is cruel. And today was a cruel day for us. It could have been magical. We were seconds away from it being magical for us. It was magical for Palmeiras and cruel for us. What I take away from this Copa (do Brasil) is pride in our journey and the way we went out. Together with our fans, we built up great expectations for this competition. It's an important competition, and we knew that and wanted to deliver that for them. And I think, in the end, when we all left the pitch, we felt sad because we really did everything within our power to reach the final. And today was a true final. There was a very capable, very talented team on the other side. And this is also part of the growth of teams like Vasco, who were once great and want to be great again. This is the path we have to follow." Pedro Emanuel also made a point of recalling an interview with Arsenal's Brazilian defender Gabriel Magalhães, who noted that the Gunners had to settle for second place for four consecutive seasons before becoming Premier League champions again.  "Today (Sunday), I saw the comments from Arsenal defender Gabriel (Magalhães). He said they finished runners-up four times in England and managed to find the formula to win on the fifth attempt." This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.