Interview

‘We kept on fighting… but I’m gutted’

Joao Virginia claps the fans at Emirates Stadium
Joao Virginia claps the fans at Emirates Stadium

We gave everything in our FA Youth Cup final against Chelsea, but were ultimately powerless to stop Jody Morris’ team from lifting the trophy for the fifth successive year.

After our 4-0 defeat at Emirates Stadium in the tie’s second leg, Joao Virginia spoke to Arsenal.com. Here’s what he said:

on feeling gutted…

We did everything we could. We had our chances but we didn’t take them. Chelsea had their chances and they were able to take them. Congratulations to Chelsea because they deserve it and they played really well, but I’m gutted.

on whether the scoreline flattered Chelsea…

At some times we were close to scoring against them, but we didn’t take those chances. In a final like this, you need to score and we didn’t.

on his own performance…

I think I did all I could and kept the ball out of the net a lot of times, especially in the first half. I kept us in the game but in the second half things didn’t go our way. I’m happy with my own performance and I’m proud of everyone here because they really fought until the end. Our heads didn’t go down, we just kept on fighting.

on the team spirit…

This team of young players has great spirit. A couple of times this season we’ve gone behind in games but have come back to win, for example at Liverpool. We had one game in the League Cup too against Stoke where we came from behind. I really believe in these players.

on his hopes for the rest of the season…

The under-23s still have a game and I want to be involved in it because it’s a final against Porto. Porto are from Portugal, so I really hope I can play in that game. Next season, I’ll keep on working to get close to the first team. Every season I want to prove that I’m worth it.

on his own improvement…

I think I’ve done really well this season and I’ve improved quite a lot. My performances have been really good and I’ve shown what I can do.

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