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| Tuesday, 23 March 2010 09:36 |
Inacio: “Getting to the final would be a historical landmark in our careers”Naval coach anticipates “two huge battles” to make Cup final Many were surprised to see Augusto Inacio accept the post of modest club Naval following the dismissal of Ulisses Morais at the start of the season. But the man who led Sporting to the championship in 2000 has proved that competence and hard work can bring success, even when restricted to scarce resources.
After cutting his managerial teeth as an assistant to Bobby Robson at FC Porto, Inacio enjoyed huge success early in his career as a first-team coach by ending an 18-year drought of Portuguese titles at Sporting in 1999/2000.
Things did not go so well for the 55-year-old subsequently, and he has now managed a total of 15 clubs, including stints in
“We’re going to prepare well for a very difficult semi-final, over two legs with Chaves. We can’t forget that they knocked out Pacos de Ferreira away in the last round. Getting to the final would be a historical landmark in our careers and in the history of the club. We’ve got the chance to do it but we have to get through two huge battles first.
“We’re not thinking about Europe at the moment. It’s not a lack of ambition, but our idea is to think about one game at a time. If we get there we’ll be very happy, if not we’ll be happy all the same.
Objective achieved“The club’s first objective (guaranteeing top-flight status) is practically achieved, so the season’s aims have to be reformulated. We can start looking above us instead of below us in the table. We are going to try and better 11th place, which is the best finish this club has ever achieved.”
Inacio’s charges appear well placed to achieve this goal. The team are currently standing in eighth place, showing what can be achieved on a shoestring budget through hard work.
Naval have one of the lowest budgets in the top flight, and were forced to sell their top scorer of several seasons, Marcelinho, in the summer to balance the books. Goals have been hard to come by, but positive results have been ground out thanks to a mean defence. On 21 occasions this season Naval have conceded one or zero goals. But Inacio is not resting on his laurels.
“I think this club deserves us to continue to work hard and I’m not going to let us relax for one second. All the players are constantly under examination. The contracts don’t end in March but at the end of the season, who knows maybe at Jamor.”
by Tom Kundert Add your comment |
