Rio Ave coach Sotiris Silaidopoulos refused to blame a first-half red card for his team’s humiliating 4-0 loss to Estoril, instead pointing to deeper collective and individual shortcomings from the start of the match.
Silaidopoulos publicly apologized to fans following the heavy defeat in a league match, acknowledging that the team’s performance was “bad” and not just a matter of the final score.
The crucial red card occurred just 21 minutes into the game, leaving Rio Ave at a numerical disadvantage for the majority of the encounter. However, Silaidopoulos insisted that their struggles began earlier.
“We cannot easily forget, but we have to,” Silaidopoulos stated. “We have to apologize to the fans; it was not only a bad result but also a bad performance.”
He added that despite the red card making the situation difficult, his team committed “many individual errors” and failed to execute basic plays.
“I already said in the locker room that it was not only about the red card, but also about the first 20 minutes of the game,” the coach explained. “We didn’t do what we were supposed to.”
Silaidopoulos concluded by stating that it was a night the team must “quickly forget and show personality, stay united and move on.”