“It was a very bad technically played match in the second half. The players didn’t fight like they should have in this matchup considering what’s at stake in this series.
I don’t really understand how you can fight like that and just give up. When it was still 0-0, we looked half-hearted, but after that everything collapsed,” said the 50-year-old Belgian Stijn Vrevenas, the strategist of the Panevėžys team. It was another resounding slap in the face for the A-League champions on the international stage.
The author of the first goal in this confrontation became 52 min. Danny Davies scored after a corner, and after a personal slalom in the 65th minute. Daniel Williams sent the goal into the far corner. 2:0, it was already a painful slap for the people of Panevezys.
However, this was not the end: when the duel was already coming to an end, the nail was driven into the coffin of Panevėžys hopes in the 90th minute. Ben Clarke. So in Wales, Panevezys will have to score three points more in a week, but with such a game, you can hardly expect a miracle.
The New Saints, now based in England, but fighting in the Welsh Championship, like the Panevezys, aim to play in Conference League group matches for the first time in their history. The second leg will take place a week later in Wales.
“Panevėžius” was already the third opponent out of four, who has won the most titles in his country’s championships. It is true that the representatives of Wales cannot be proud of such a history as the teams of Finland or Israel, but it already has 16 titles in its dowry. Most of them were won since 2011.
The Oswestry club played identically to Panevėžys in the first round of the Champions League qualifying competition – the confrontations with Tuža Dečič from Montenegro ended 3:0 and 1:1.
Coincidences continued in the second round as well, where “Ferencvaroš” Budapest was recognized 1:7 advantage, in turn, Hincheschis “Petrocub” from Moldova lost 0:1 on aggregate in the third round of the European League qualifiers.
The multiple Welsh champions also had meetings with Lithuanian clubs: “Sūduvai” from Marijampolė lost 0:1 and 0:1, but “Kauno Žalgiris” was defeated even 5:0 and 5:1 both times.
– Who is to blame for such a defeat?
– It’s the coach, as always. And basically, I don’t know… After such failures, I always look in the mirror at the beginning. You can play, you can fail, but you can’t give up prematurely. No one from the team showed the necessary mentality.
“Do you expect to straighten up?”
– We haven’t played well this whole season and the end of it could be even more difficult. But you know, this is football. You have to hope for any chance. Yes, we can play better and have hope, but I doubt the opponents will fight very badly.
– How to evaluate the result?
– The Walloons deserve it. I think the numbers on the scoreboard say everything about our game. Can’t concede goals. Before the match, I explained to everyone that this is a great opportunity for us to make history.
This is the kind of occasion that, perhaps. some will only have it once in a lifetime. But what’s the mentality – you can’t play the way it was played.
2024-08-24 07:22:35