Henrique Pereira, a forward for Chaves, described playing against his boyhood club Benfica for the first time since his departure as both a pleasure and a source of pride, despite his team’s 2-0 defeat in the third round of the Portuguese Cup.
The 23-year-old spent 18 years at Benfica, joining the club at age four, and expressed that it had always been his dream to wear their shirt. This season marks his first competing away from the Lisbon giants.
Pereira observed that Chaves, despite the loss, managed to create several dangerous scoring opportunities, particularly in the first half. However, he acknowledged Benfica’s superior individual quality ultimately determined the outcome.
He cited Benfica’s forward Pavlidis, who scored both goals, as an example of this individual brilliance. Pereira noted that Pavlidis’s goals came from moments of quality, not defensive errors by Chaves, demonstrating the caliber of players on the opposing side.
Chaves maintained a compact defensive structure throughout the match, a point highlighted by Pereira. He also asserted that his team possesses the necessary quality to compete for promotion to the Primeira Liga.
Pedro Pinho, also commenting on the match, conceded that Benfica’s early goal unsettled Chaves but praised his team’s strong reaction. He suggested that greater efficacy in front of goal could have created more instability for Benfica and potentially altered the result.
Pinho underscored Chaves’s mentality to “dispute the game eye to eye with any club,” always playing to win, despite recognizing Benfica’s undeniable quality. He added that the team is now focused on their upcoming league match.