The Brazilian full-back Alex Sandro expects in the final of the CONMEBOL Copa América Brazil 2019 a different Peru to the one they defeated 5-0 in the group stage, and although he admitted that the pressure rests on Brazil as the host, he said they will know how to handle it.
“We’re fine, it’s normal to have complaints, to have pressure, but if there was pressure, is the pressure that brought us here. I think we’re used to the pressure, we grow with the pressure, the more pressure there is, the better for us”, said the Juventus player.
Brazil have never lost a CONMEBOL Copa America when they hosted the tournament and they hope this time will not be the exception. Peru, meanwhile, return to a final of this tournament after 44 years. The match will take place this Sunday at the Maracaná in Rio de Janeiro.
“Every game is a story”, said the player, who considered that just as Argentina had its qualities – and was eliminated in the semi-finals – Peru also has its own.
“We are working on that, we are studying the opponent to be able to have a good strategy”, explained Alex Sandro in a break of his trainings in the Granja Comary of Rio de Janeiro, headquarters of the Verdeamarela.
“If Peru reached the final, all the merits are theirs. It’s a team that grew during the competition, as did we. I think the two teams that arrived did it on merit,” he added.
Alex Sandro agreed with the statements of his rival, Peru’s Paolo Guerrero, who said that in a final there are no favorites. “I agree with him because anything can happen in the final. If there is favoritism it is in the press, in the fans. Peru grew a lot, they’re more attentive than the game we had against them”, he said.
And he added that “it is a special emotion to play in the Maracanã. It’s every child’s dream, that’s where the dream of all the players begins. “It’s going to be a special final”, he said.
