Dani Alves: The effort we made against Côte d'Ivoire should be appreciated
Dani Alves, the captain of the Brazilian national team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, confirmed, after Sunday's draw against Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), in the second match of the tournament, that the great effort "made by the samba dancers against the Elephants team" should be "appreciated".
Alves, who is searching in the Asian country for the only title he is missing in his long and successful career, spoke of the impact of his team-mate Douglas Luiz's dismissal early in the game, saying, “These are the conditions of the game that must be overcome. It was a game that I had doubts about whether it deserved a red card or not, but that's part of the game.”
However, the former player for Barcelona and Seville, does not believe that the expulsion of his colleague made the match more difficult, explaining: “We were able to create the best scoring opportunities. We are a team and we have to appreciate the great effort we put in.”
Brazil, which is defending its Olympic title that it won 5 years ago in the Maracana, will seek to qualify for the quarter-finals in a confrontation next Wednesday against Saudi Arabia.
Brazil leads Group D with four points in front of runner-up Cote d'Ivoire with the same number of points, Germany comes in third with three points, and Saudi Arabia is at the bottom of the standings without any points in its pocket.
