🎥 Cloé Lacasse: "I miss the competitive spirit of football"

STATEMENTS

Cloé Lacasse, the striker of Benfica's women's football team, revealed what she misses the most, now that the country is in state of emergency because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This stage has been really difficult, especially for foreign players because we can't be near our families. It is a time of great uncertainty, but we want everyone to stay healthy, safe and at home. That's what I tell my parents, family, and friends to do. All we can do is stay home, even if it's in a different country", started by saying the athlete from the "Clube da Luz".

Situation in Canada

"Canada is two to three weeks behind Europe. They are isolating people and asking them to be quarantined now. Canada has similar cases to Portugal as far as the peak and the scale, but maybe it has a bigger infrastructure as far as hospitals and medical care are concerned since it also has more population and it is a bigger country. Nevertheless, it's becoming a serious case there. The police are asking people on the street to come home, deep down they're trying to get everyone safe, trying to prevent the spread from becoming worse for everyone."

Daily training plan

"Every day we get a training plan from the physiology department. Most of them are cardio exercises, considering what can be done at home. Caroline and I [Benfica's player and Cloé Lacasse's roommate] are lucky because we have the chance to do some ball work in the garage. We have been doing what we can to keep fit, but it is impossible to replicate what we do on the pitch."

Maintaining communication with interactive challenges

"What I have been missing most is the competitive spirit of football and playing against an opponent. Not having the team, the energy and the spirit of unity with me, are other things that I also miss and we only realize this when we no longer have them. There's been a lot of communication between the players every day, we've been challenging each other."

Text: Diogo Nascimento

Photos: Archive / SL Benfica