Corinthians midfielder Andressa has reflected on a ‘special’ victory for her side as both a player and a fan of the club.
Andressa Alves Da Silva or as she is more commonly known Andressa has had a phenomenal career. Now 33 she has led Corinthians, her hometown club to stand on the brink of history as they face Arsenal in the final of the inaugural FIFA Women’s Champions Cup.
The Halfway Line heard from Andressa after her side’s 1-0 victory over Gotham which secured a place in the final for the Brazilian outfit.
Andressa reflects on ‘special’ victory as a player and a fan
The Brazilian, capped more than 100 times by her nation has played at the top level in Spain, USA, France and now at Corinthians. She spoke of her excitement at making the final,
“For me I am a Corinthians supporter” Andressa explained.
“So for me, it is more special because not only am I a player, but I represent the fans in the stands, I’m also one of them.
“We knew Gotham is a very strong team, and we knew that the first and second balls were very important. That’s why Gotham pushed us behind in the first half [and] in the first 10 minutes.
“But then we knew we would have to suffer to win and we were very conscious of that. We were not afraid to do the one on ones. So that’s what we had on our mind since the beginning [of the match].”
The possibility to make history ‘in our minds all the time’ says Andressa
This is the first ever inter-continental competition in the women’s game but this type of tournament has been around in the men’s game for some time. The first winners of that competition were, you guessed it: Corinthians. That fact was put to Andressa as she was asked if the team would use it for extra motivation,
“We had it in minds all the time” said Andressa.
“The possibility that Corinthians has the first title for both men and women. That’s very important, very special.
“So we have been trained a lot for that, and we will keep in our mind this possibility, just to have more strength to play on Sunday.”
‘The eyes of the world are here’ says Andressa
A first of its kind tournament in the women’s game the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup has drawn praise and criticism in equal measure. When asked how the Brazilian is experiencing the competition so far, she pondered for a moment,
“The ambience is amazing” Andressa smiled.
“I’m very happy to be here, and being here together with Corinthians makes everything more special!
“The eyes of the world are here, they are seeing what they are doing and usually they don’t have this possibility, but showing their the strength, their power, their skills, against a team, a club just like Gotham is very special.
“It shows the work that the President of football, and both clubs and the national team is improving.”
Please note these answers were provided with the help of a Portuguese to English translator.
