Internacional coach locked players to get past Barca

Internacional coach Abel Braga said after his side's 1-0 victory over Barcelona that he had to lock players for some time on Saturday so that they can get motivated and focused on beating the European champions.

كتب : Ahmed Saied

الأحد، 17 ديسمبر 2006 - 18:09
Internacional coach Abel Braga said after his side's 1-0 victory over Barcelona that he had to lock players for some time on Saturday so that they can get motivated and focused on beating the European champions.

"We shut the players in a room for a quarter of an hour to get them fired up for the match," Braga told a press conference after Internacional were crowned Club World Cup champions.

A smart finish by substitute striker Luiz Adriano eight minutes from time lifted the Copa Libertadores champions past Barcelona and maintained the Brazilian clubs' unbeaten record in the tournament.

Braga said that only retaining the tournament's title or winning the World Cup as Brazil manager would match this accomplishment.

"The only thing that would give me more joy would be to win this again next year -- or to become coach of the Brazil national team and win the World Cup."

Barcelona boss Frank Rijkaard, meanwhile, assumed full responsibility of the defeat but said his side should forget about the game and get back on the winning track as soon as possible.

"This is not the team's failure. It's my failure as coach. I take full responsibility. But losing one match is not the end of the world."