Vítor Pereira justifies the departure of Arrascaeta in the game against Al Hilal

O Flamengo disappointed when he was defeated by Al-Hilal, from Saudi Arabia, in the semifinal of the Club World Cup. In addition to the result, the team’s performance drew attention.

Another point of dispute from the crowd was the substitutions of coach Vitor Pereira, the main one being the replacement of Arrascaeta by Pulgar at halftime to recompose the marking sector after Gerson’s expulsion.

End of the game. Flamengo 2 x 3 Al Hilal. #FLAxALH #CRF

— Flamengo (@Flamengo) February 7, 2023

Vítor Pereira explained the reason for the change.

“I didn’t remove Arrascaeta because of his physical condition. I would never remove him in the 11 against 11. But the team suffered an expulsion. A very offensive team, which has moments of imbalance in defense. Gerson and Thiago are players who balance with their perception and physical capacity, support Pedro, Gabigol, Everton Ribeiro. But, with the result and with one less, the coach has to make decisions”, said the 54-year-old coach.

The Portuguese revealed that, if he did not remove Arrascaeta, the chosen one would be Gabigol.

“Decisions are debatable. I would not choose to leave a team with only Thiago Maia, with players needing offensive propensity. We needed one more, two, three, because the team would be unbalanced. It was not my option to remove Arrascaeta, but I had to It was to choose between him and Gabigol. I needed to balance the team with one less. It was a very difficult decision, for the level that Arrascaeta has, but I had to make a decision and that was my criterion”, he declared.

Flamengo will stay in Morocco until Saturday, when they will play for third place in the World Cup.