Kashiwa Reysol's Brazilian boss Nelsinho Baptista eyes Santos surprise
The former Santos player and coach cannot wait for their Club World Cup semi-final against the Brazilians who he believes the Japanese side can beat
Kashiwa Reysol coach Nelsinho Baptista says his side can upset his former club Santos in the Club World Cup semi-final after knocking out Monterrey on penalties in Sunday's quarter-final.
Nelsinho, who coached Santos in 2005 and played with the Brazilian club from 1978 to 1982, said his team would study up on their upcoming opponents as they attempt to produce a surprise result in Wednesday's clash.
"Those two teams [Santos and Barcelona] are the two expected to play the final, but one never knows until the game is played," Nelsinho told reporters on Sunday.
"Santos is a top team with great talent among the individual players, but the team and I will discuss how to play this game to win it. I will get as much information as possible, and try to help out my players."
He added: "My players were very happy in the locker room today. All this is very new for us, a new environment. For my young players in particular it is the first time they play international games, and now we'll face Santos!"
Kashiwa's 4-3 penalty shootout win over Monterrey, which followed a 120-minute 1-1 deadlock, occured just days after last week's comfortable 2-0 victory over Oceania champions Auckland City.
Nelsinho continued: "We have played two games, while Santos is resting. We will arrive to the next game with a different kind of preparation.
"Over these years we have played many different opponents, and this game versus Santos it will be [the ultimate] experience.
"We will continue to play our game, and we want to play at the same level of Santos. We know they have great individuals, and we will try to reply as a team, by using our offensive creativity.
"I was at Santos as players from 1978 to 1982, I won titles with them, I was their manager briefly, but now I am at Kashiwa Reysol. I have affection toward Santos, and because of that I really want us to play a great game against them."
Meanwhile, defeated Monterrey coach Victor Vucetich had no complaints with his side's performances and applauded Kashiwa keeper Takanori Sugeno for his shootout heroics.
"It was a very good game, overall balanced, but we could not score a second goal," Vucetich told reporters.
"Penalty kicks are always a bit of a matter of luck, we prepared for this game to win it and [now that we've lost it] we'll keep working hard doing our best.
"However, our performance overall was very good, players did their best, and responded to my requests.
"We always practice penalty kicks when we train. Sugeno did very well, he is a very good player."
Sugeno added: "Honestly I was happy it went down to the penalty kick contest. It was a chance for me as a goalie to show what I have. It went well, I am very happy." - http://www.goal.com
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