2024-07-12 07:30:56
The coach of the winner of the Bulgarian Cup “Botev” (Pd) Dusan Kerkez commented on the 2:1 victory over the Slovenian “Maribor” in the first match between the two teams from the 1st qualifying round of the Europa League:
“Tough game in Europe. I said before that Maribor is the favorite because of its experience, and Botev step by step is trying to get back on the European map and I’m sure that will happen.
It was an open match, especially in the second half. At some points in the second half we took chances and that’s how we scored the second goal. It is always positive to win, but we have to be prepared that the game in Slovenia will be even more difficult than today and we will try to get a good result there as well.
We know they are a good team, but they also have some extremely classy players like Josip Ilicic. We played as a team, but we also showed individual class.
This match was a serious test for us. First match in Europe at this stadium in 29 years. We felt the emotion of the people in the city. It is not easy to deal with this tension. Playing for Botev in this stadium is not easy.
“For most of the game we were good mentally, but after we scored, Maribor took advantage of the fact that we were unfocused and managed to score.”