Celtic’s Superstar from Portugal scored against theRangers for the second time yesterday and it was an absolutely wonderful piece of skill that doubled Celtic’s lead after Liel Abada’s opener inside the first ten minutes. The 23-year-old is ‘living the dream’ at Celtic right now as he revels in the success of the Celtic side. He said…
“We know these games are really special and we just came with the mentality of doing good, stick to our principles and just deliver. I think we did it,” Jota said after match as reported by Scottish Sun.
“It’s always a big result because it’s a win. If it was 1-0 it could still be a good result. It’s always depending on the way we play — and the way we played today was very good. So we need to keep going,” Jota said.
“I’ve said this a few times — I’m so grateful to be in a team that plays this kind of football.
“I’ve played like this all my youth and this is just the way I want to play football with these principles. Attacking football, high tempo, high pressing, one-v-ones, crosses, assists, goals. That’s what we aim for.
Celtic attacker Jota intends to enjoy the moment when his side meets Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday. https://t.co/KgkEjphIVj pic.twitter.com/V0Ofu11URE
— STV News (@STVNews) September 4, 2022
“It’s just an unbelievable time to be alive right now. It depends what people think is dream football. For some people the dream is to win even if you play bad. If you can play good football and win games that is more what we want,” Jota added.
“I must say something, people often think that confidence brings more confidence and more confidence. But these are the times we just have to remain humble and stick to our principles.
“We know how hard it was to get to this place and play this kind of football. Now we just have to understand that our feet stay on the ground. We still have room to improve and we need to be better game after game.”
Jota gave an insight into what he was thinking as he cleverly chipped the keeper to score Celtic’s second goal of the match. “When I received the ball I was not expecting to chip because football’s like very short seconds, you just need to decide in the moment. Once I saw the goalkeeper coming, I knew I had to chip.
“I think a tap-in is the same way satisfying as the other ones because it’s still a goal. As long as the ball goes into the net I’m happy with that. I think we are in a good moment right now, there are plenty of difficult matches to come so we just need to remain humble and work hard every day.
“That’s what we have been doing since last season and we want to keep improving.”
Speaking about the opening Group stage match against the European giants, Real Madrid. Jota, like the rest of us, is looking forward to this game and the rest of Celtic’s Champions League adventure. “Once you start to play football, these are the moments you want. The moments you will record one day, and maybe in 15 years you can tell your children just how much you enjoyed them.
“This is all about enjoying it. People say, ‘You have to be ready for this!’. They are so into the moment that they cannot enjoy it. But I think we will enjoy it.
“We will stay responsible, know what we have to do, but at the same time enjoy it. Because it’s very good to play these games.”
The winger explains how the loss of Kyogo to injury wasn’t ideal but introduction of Giakoumakis didn’t negatively effect the team. Jota said…
“It’s never good to lose a player like Kyogo. Of course no one was ready for it. But us as professionals, we just need to adapt ourselves and we always have a lot of quality from the bench.
“So, the team just stays the same and remains the same. Giorgos is someone who just delivers every time he’s on. He’s a big asset for us, not just him, but anyone who comes on like him.
As I said before, we are always ready. Everyone sticks to the same principles and philosophy that the coach wants us to play,” Celtic’s superstar from Portugal added.
“So, this is just so good to have people to replace you when the quality remains the same.”
With the current outstanding form of Jota, surely he is in the running for a place in the Portoguese squad. Especially with Tuesday’s game against Real Madrid approaching, what a stage it will give to the talented winger to show off his skill.
