Nuno Campos Targets Seventh Final at Puskas Arena
ZTE will face Ferencváros in the Magyar Kupa final at puskas arena on Saturday, and Nuno Campos said it will be the seventh final of his career. The ZTE head coach put the focus on the players, saying the young squad must use its last reserves of strength for the match.
Nuno Campos and Puskas Arena
Campos framed the final around execution, not reputation. “Az biztos, hogy a játékosok a főszereplők, ők a legfontosabbak.” He added: “Kieséses rendszerű lebonyolításban az apróságok is döntő jelentőségűek lehetnek, én pedig olyan edzőnek tartom magam, aki minden részletre odafigyel.”
The final gives ZTE a high-pressure stage that few of the squad may reach again. Campos told his players that some of them may only play one cup final in their careers, and he wants them to “absolutely enjoy the moment.”
Campos’ Cup Final Record
This will not be Campos’ first trip into that kind of pressure. He played in the Portuguese Cup final in 1999 with SC Campomaiorense and lost to Beira-Már. He later won the cup three times in Ukraine with Shakhtar Donetsk while working with Paulo Fonseca, then won the Portuguese Cup once with Braga in 2016.
His own final history also includes a reminder of how long some club waits can be. Campos said Braga had last won the Portuguese Cup 50 years earlier, in 1966, before that 2016 breakthrough. He also led Tondela to the Portuguese Cup final four years ago, when it lost to Porto.
ZTE’s Road to Saturday
Campos said ZTE’s season has been successful even though few people expected it in August. He also said the route to the final was not easy, with Vasas and Budapest Honvéd both standing in the way at NB I level. That run has left ZTE in a place the squad did not occupy when the season began.
The result on Saturday will decide whether that story ends with a cup title or another final loss. For ZTE, the immediate task is to manage the details Campos keeps stressing, because this is the kind of match where one mistake can wipe out a year’s work.
