Shropshire Star

Ricardo Sa Pinto: Win over Wolves is 'historic day for Braga and Portuguese football.'

Braga boss Ricardo Sa Pinto hailed an “historic day” for Braga and Portuguese football following their Europa League win at Wolves.

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Ricardo Horta netted the only goal in the 71st minute to ensure Wolves’ Group K campaign got off to a losing start.

And Sa Pinto later expressed his delight at the result.

He said: “It's important to win. We're in a difficult and challenging group.

"We were coming looking for a positive result and one point was going to be good but that wouldn't have stopped us trying for three.

"What I saw from the players was the belief on the pitch they could win.

"We do everything to get the win. This season we haven't got the results we deserved and we'll talk about this game in the coming days.

“Now we need to enjoy the moment, it's an historic day for Braga and an historic day for Portuguese football."

When asked why the result was so significant for Portuguese football, Sa Pinto explained how it would help with the country's co-efficient ranking.

Braga, like Wolves, had to come through qualifying in order to reach the group stages of the competition.

Sa Pinto said: “It’s not every day you have a victory in Europe. Portugal is in competition with Russia for its categorisation so we can qualify directly for the qualifying rounds.

“We have played eight games to get here. It is important for the future of Portuguese football we go up in the ranking.

“Winning at Wolves away, a team who finished seventh in the Premier League last season taking into account the players they have. I am not going to talk about the budget, there is no point.

“But for me they are the one of the best in the Premier League and it not every day this happens. Yes, it is an unforgettable moment in the history of the club and Portuguese football.”