Estoril captain outraged by game during break: "Is there justice in this?"

On Saturday night, João Carvalho made no secret of his outrage over the Portuguese League's decision to reschedule Estoril's match against Santa Clara (0-1) —which had been postponed—on a day when the World Cup qualifiers were being played. In a Sport TV flash interview, the Amoreira team captain warned that this type of situation doesn't reflect well on the Portuguese League and highlighted the "horrible conditions."

"What ends up affecting us started some time ago... We have family, we're not messing around, and we try to be professional. But if everything around us isn't professional, we end up not being professional. I have a lot to say, but I don't want to be misunderstood. This started three or four weeks ago... Santa Clara was in European competition and clearly deserves a break. Last week, we were on the last day of the transfer window, and if any player wanted to come and play in Portugal, looking at the summary of our game, I don't think he would have come. The conditions we had last week were horrible. Is there justice in this? Is there justice in this game? I don't feel it!" João Carvalho began, continuing.

"I'm not talking about the refereeing, but rather the game itself, scheduled for this time. Honestly, I don't know what can be fixed, but we're not moving forward like this. We tried to do our best. I don't think anyone is listening to me, because our culture is one of three, four teams and nothing more. Portugal played a little while ago and we were all watching the game... The national team didn't deserve to have a game. If we want to reach another level, these things should stop happening," stressed the experienced Portuguese midfielder.

When confronted with the absence of some of the team's players, precisely because they were on duty with their respective national teams, João Carvalho confessed to being "very sad" and stated that the "normal" championship would only begin next week.

"Honestly, we won the game. Despite the adverse conditions, we continued to be a team. Santa Clara went to European competitions, they have an excellent team, a great coach, and, absentees or not, it was neck and neck; it could have gone either way. It went their way. I don't want to talk... They were better, they scored a goal, and we didn't. I'm very sad about this whole situation. Our season will start next week, when a normal championship starts, because so far it hasn't. We didn't deserve to lose any games; we deserved to win two or three. We have two points and should have more. Let's look forward. We have a long way to go. Last season we turned things around, and this one will be no different," concluded the Estoril captain.

It should be noted that this match between Estoril and Santa Clara was part of the third round of the I Liga and was not played at the time due to the Azorean team's participation in the qualifying round for the Conference League. The only goal of the match at the António Coimbra da Mota Stadium was scored by Brazilian Gabriel Silva in the 53rd minute, from the penalty spot.

Santa Clara now has four points and has moved up to ninth place in the I Liga, while Estoril remains winless and remains in 15th place in the league table with two points.

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