Marco Silva and Luís Pinto exchange splinters: “If you want sports truth...”

O Benfica stamped, this Thursday, the clearance for the final half of the League Cup (where it will take the front FC Porto, which took the best on the Academic of Viseu, by 1-0), when receiving and beating Gil Vicente, by category 4-1, in a meeting that was marked by the controversy around the use of Jhon Durán.

The Colombian international, remember, had been expelled in the last game of the incarnates (victory on Santa Clara, for the I League, for 1-2), but it was decriminalized, and could be bet the holder (with a goal in the personal account), circumstance that was worth harsh criticism by Luís Pinto, at the press conference that followed the final whistle.

“I hope, against Vitória SC, to have the Espi [Antonio Espigares] available, because I also want to have a game available, after being expelled (...). We have to realize what we want for our football. I am and will always be a defender of Portuguese football, regardless of the club where I am and who defends ", started by affirming.

“ If we want a more competitive championship, if we want more competitive cups, we have to understand very well that all the decisions we've made, and one is to discredit a player on the eve of a game that was expelled in the previous game... It is an attitude that can put much into question, and these many things at stake are the seriousness of the people who are ahead of football”, he continued.

“ I am not calling Benfica's victory into question, nor am I, as I said, to congratulate Marco at the end of the game and the Benfica team and structure for having passed. That's not what this is about. What is at stake is what we want for Portuguese football. This does not dignify Portuguese football at all. There were more options”, he completed.

“If Durán could not play today, forget the sports truth”

Marco Silva, for his part, also before journalists, applauded the dehumanisation of Jhon Durán: “Not knowing all ‘timings’, I tried to inform myself of meetings and when punishments come out, I had no idea before this game. Of course, after Santa Clara, I tried to know, and from the moment we knew there was a meeting in time, I always hoped that Jhon Durán could be in the game.”.

“ If it wasn't for Durán, he'd play [Vangelis] Pavlidis. I understood all Louis' statements and his frustration because much of what he said had nothing to do with this particular game. He even talks about how the games are paired and ends up congratulating him on how the final four is organized. It seemed to me that he spoke much of the way the way is prepared to get there ", said.

“ I'm not the person to talk about it. The calendar is done this way and I will not comment on it. I was hoping Durán would be decumbent because he did absolutely nothing. I understand frustration, but if we want the sports truth... If Durán could not play today, forget the sports truth because it did not exist, it was a mistake to have been expelled when he did nothing to be expelled ", concluded.