Arsenal Women coach Renee Slegers says her players have to be ‘comfortable with the unknown’ for Sunday’s FIFA Champions Cup Final against Corithians at Arsenal Stadium. The Champions of Europe meet the Champions of South America in Sunday’s showpiece and Slegers is excited about the clash of football cultures.
‘We had to earn the right to get into the final and I think the team did that brilliantly the other night. So very excited about the final. We look forward to it and it’s a special moment for us for the players and the fans.’ The Gunners beat Moroccan side ASFAR 6-0 at Brentford on Wednesday evening to qualify for the final, while Corinthians beat Gotham 1-0 in the other semi-final.
‘I think the players showed that they were comfortable with the unknown on Wednesday. We dealt with it really well. We have to focus on ourselves. Of course, there are experiences that the players have from national team football, playing against Brazil or other South American teams. So there are experiences in the team and the players are sharing that among each other.
‘We are preparing for it technically. We see who they are, what they can do. I think they had a great performance against Gotham. They defended so well with a lot of discipline. And they have qualities to score which they did in the game. We are planning all aspects, but also focusing on ourselves.’
Arseblog News asked Slegers whether the players are prepared for the level of intensity Corinthians will bring to the game on Sunday. ‘I think they’re going to bring intensity together with the fans and they were amazing watching the game against Gotham, the energy they brought and our fans are going to bring the energy and intensity as well so it will be a great football event.
‘I think football is growing everywhere around the world. I think ASFAR was as a good example of another continent, another culture, but there’s so many things to the way that they play and it’s at such a high level and I think it’s technically you see that there’s the trend globally instead of different subcultures.
‘Corinthians are a very good team. So they bring what they bring as a team but there’s also a lot of things that are at the moment that we witness football and are happening in a global sense.’
Arsenal will play Corinthians at 6pm on Sunday at Emirates Stadium in the final.