Tribune News Network
Doha
In an eagerly-awaited contest, Brazilian side Botafogo will face Mexican outfit Pachuca in the FIFA Derby of the Americas at the Stadium 974 in Doha on Wednesday at 8pm
Botafogo won their first CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores crown, thanks to a 3-1 reverse of Atletico Mineiro, on November 30th before conquering the Brasileirao title on Sunday.
Pachuca stormed to a sixth Concacaf Champions Cup conquest in June. They will be keen rewrite the wrongs of a 16th-place finish in Liga MX.
The winners of this match will face Al Ahly in the FIFA Challenger Cup on December 14 back at the same venue. The winner of that tie will then take on Real Madrid in the 2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup final at Lusail Stadium – the venue of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 decider.
Bastos, who missed Botafogo’s last three games, is back at the disposal of coach Artur Jorge, who must decide whether to reinstall him alongside Alexander Barboza at centre-back or stick with Adryelson. Mateo Ponte will deputise for the injured Vitinho at right-back, while long-time absentee Matheus Nascimento is unavailable.
“The desire to win titles will overcome fatigue. We know the difficulties, but today we are proud to be here. We finished a difficult championship (Brasileirao), where we were winners. We only had one day of work here and we need to adapt to the schedule. But the team is determined,” said coach Jorge at the pre-match conference in Doha.
“Botafogo has its philosophy, its stance. Playing in this competition is a wonderful feeling and now we have to give our all and make this game a historic moment,” he added.
“We finished the championship on Sunday night, celebrated with the fans and then embarked on a long trip, with time differences, that lasted almost 24 hours. We only had one real day to adapt to the differences. Despite this, we are confident and prepared to face adversity. Our mentality is clear: we will be a competitive and competent team to win.”
Botafogo player Alex Telles said, “Botafogo has its philosophy, its stance. Playing in this competition is a wonderful feeling and now we have to give our all and make this game a historic moment.
“I played at the 974 stadium in the 2022 World Cup and I am very happy to return to Qatar and play at this very special stadium. Our match tomorrow against Pachuca is difficult because it is a big and special team with great players,” he added.
Pachuca, meanwhile, are without Javier Eduardo Lopez.
Pachuca head coach Guillermo Almada, said, “First of all, we have been wonderfully welcomed, all of the organization, the training setup and the availability of the hotel staff. But like I said, it is a very big responsibility but the motivation is at the fullest, as is the responsibility.”
Almada also hoped for the presence of a lot of their fans at the stadium. Yes, surely (of our fans) many are going to come. They are also going to take part in this Intercontinental Cup that is a challenge for the club, for us and undoubtedly for the fans. They are going to participate in great numbers in the match.”
About the Mexican opponents, the coach stressed, “I’m Uruguayan, so I’m on the border with Brazil and I know a lot about Brazilian competition. They (Botafogo) are a team with a great coach, a very large squad, with great footballers. Everything that they have achieved lately speaks for itself, for the technical and football capacity that they have. We expect that they will demand the maximum. It will be tough, but as I tell the players, believe in our work and compete in a final with them.”
Luiz Henrique, Botafogo forward had earlier said, “We have to be very careful with their attack because it is excellent, but we can also take advantage of their weaknesses. It will be tough, obviously, it’s an extremely difficult competition. We’ll give our all to come out victorious.”
Brazilian and Mexican clubs have faced off three times before in FIFA competitions. Vasco da Gama defeated Necaxa 2-1 in the group stage of FIFA Club World Cup 2000. Gremio then sunk Pachuca 1-0 in the semi-finals of UAE 2017. The sole Mexican victory came at the final-four stage of Qatar 2020, as Tigres defeated Palmeiras 1-0 in Al Rayyan.
Predicted line-ups
Botafogo: John, Mateo Ponte, Adryelson, Alexander Barboza, Alex Telles, Gregore, Marlon Freitas, Luiz Henrique, Thiago Almada, Jefferson Savarino, Igor Jesus.
Pachuca: Carlos Moreno, Carlos Sanchez, Sergio Barreto, Gustavo Cabral, Bryan Gonzalez, Pedro Pedraza, Elias Montiel, Arturo Gonzalez, Oussama Idrissi, Nelson Deossa, Salomon Rondon.
