“Soccer and society must adapt to the new normal”

The portuguese Jorge Jesús, coach of Flamengo, who this Thursday beat 3-0 to Bangú in the return of football in Brazil and South America, declared after the match that sport and all of society must adapt to the “new normal”.

The party, corresponding to Carioca Championship, it was played in a stadium Maracana Almost completely empty, without an audience, and all the players and the coaching staff of both teams previously went through “quick” exams to rule out that any one was infected with COVID-19, which caused the pause interrupted today in Rio de Janeiro.

The Portuguese coach stated after the match that it is “strange” to play under these conditions, but he stated that “all of society has to know how to live with the virus until there is a vaccine.”

According to Jesus, what is “important” at this time “is knowing how to live, respecting the virus and respecting the measures of” social isolation that the pandemic imposes.

He considered that the soccer people have “a very great privilege to do a job outdoors“and to have, in all the clubs,” with all the necessary sanitary controls “to be able to resume professional activities with the necessary security.

“It is true that not everyone has the same conditions, but it is necessary to work” and, as far as possible, “restore normality,” even if it is “different” now, he said.

In football, he was satisfied with the performance of Flamengo and did not detract from the role of the humble Bangú, that throughout the game he limited himself to trying to contain the last champion of the Copa Libertadores.

“The team gave a very good response”, after the stoppage imposed by the coronavirus since last March, and “it is balanced tactically”, but it must still “recover a fully competitive rhythm,” said the Portuguese coach, who has just renewed his contract with Flamengo.