Tite explains why he didn't "fulfill" his promise of goals in Uruguay: 'I imagined it, but it didn't happen'

The Flamengo did not clear the scoreboard in the draw with Peñarol at the Campeón del Siglo stadium, on Thursday night and was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Conmebol Libertadores. In a press conference after the match, Tite was asked about the promise made after the first game, that the team would score goals in Uruguay, and which was not fulfilled.

"I did imagine, that with half of opportunities, but it didn't happen. It created a big number too. There were some important details: the good performance of the goalkeeper again and our precision in some moments to speed up the process. ", said the coach.

Asked about the reason for a qualified coach not being able to make an also qualified squad play better, Tite cited several points in the context, but pointed out as the main one the loss of Pedro, who had been Brazil's top scorer in 2024 and was seriously injured in the national team:

"We have to look at a very broad context. There were moments: we arrived to qualify for the Libertadores directly, and we did. Being Rio de Janeiro champion, we can compete in all three competitions, because Flamengo has that need. Then, we had a series of players called up to the National Team, there was the Brazilian Championship... This is the first "no" of the objectives. The most important of the objectives, I agree (Libertadores). But it also had a calendar with a series of difficulties that we had. The biggest of them, I say again, for shaping the team, was Pedro: the player in the area, the infiltrator, with his characteristics, I'm not talking about demeriting the others. The offensive structure was a little lost, we tried with BH, the return of Gabi, Carlinhos... In the final product, it didn't do what it should have done."

And now ?

With the draw, Flamengo falls into the Libertadores and postpones Tetra's dream of the competition. However, they will need to turn the key to the two remaining competitions of the season: Copa do Brasil and Brasileirão. For the national championship, the red and black team will face Athlético-PR, next Sunday, at 8:30 pm, at Maracanã.

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