Stupid match. That’s what you could call the defeat of Slovácko 0:3 in the opening match of the 3rd preliminary round of the European League at Fenerbahce Istanbul. “From the point of view of strategy, nothing worked for us at all,” lamented the coach of the team from Uherské Hradiště, Martin Svědík.
At the same time, the Moravian team did not start badly, they even hit the post in the 2nd minute. “We knew we had to hold out for the first twenty minutes, hold the ball,” Svědík described his team’s strategy.
But it was not possible to fill up here, and according to the coach, the guests were getting into a deeper block. In the 17th minute, they were punished for it, the Turkish opponent opened the scoring.
“We got a goal at a moment when there were nine of us in the penalty area and we couldn’t stop the shot,” lamented Svědík. “It was a shame, the situation could have been resolved better,” he knew.
Slovácko tried to give a quick answer. “Then we dared to counterattack, but they lacked efficiency,” regretted the coach of the Uhersko-Hradiště team.
On the contrary, the opponent knew what to do and dealt a heavy blow to the Moravians with a goal in the locker room. “That calmed him down and paralyzed us,” admitted Svědík.
And what happened after the change of sides? He didn’t even want to comment on that after the quick red card for Stanislav Hofmann. “We don’t need to talk about the second half, there was a suspension, which affected the match,” waved the coach of the fourth team of last year’s Fortuna:League.
Midfielder Vlastimil Daníček also realized when the duel was breaking. “The key to the development was the turn of the halves. At the end of the first we got a goal and then came the dismissal,” he sighed. “The home team held the ball tactically, we tried to keep the score. Shame about the third goal, it was a nail biter,” he said sadly.
According to the Witness, other circumstances also affected the performance. “We also had health problems. Havlík did not play fully from the 20th minute, so he substituted in the half. In this direction, everything went against us,” the coach repeated.
Even so, he knew very well that his team could have achieved a much better result at the Bosphorus. “All the goals we got were after shots from the edge of the penalty area, we should have worked better there,” the coach lamented.
But he did not curse his team in any way. “The ten-man performance was gutsy, we fought until the end. We played our best,” he shrugged.
In addition, the players could be surprised by the scenery at the stadium, which they are not used to from the Czech league. “The match had an excellent atmosphere, it was very unusual for us, absolutely nothing could be heard on the pitch,” wondered midfielder Daniel Holzer. “I’ve never experienced anything like this, but that’s why we play football,” he added.
In a week, the organizers will change, Slovácko will welcome the famous team in the second match at its stadium. “The revenge will be very difficult, but anything can happen,” Svědík held on to hope. “However, Fenerbahce has a comfortable lead and great quality,” he acknowledged.
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