Ante Šimundža after advancing to the second half of the qualifications: “It is important that we are aware of the mistakes we made”
Photo: Žan Pak
The footballers of Maribor have successfully qualified for the third round of the Conference League qualifiers for the second consecutive time after a minimal defeat in the return match against Craiova, capitalizing on a two-goal advantage from the first match. Consequently, they face another European challenge in less than a week, and before that, head coach Ante Šimundža stepped in front of the microphones.
“”The goal is achieved, that is the most important thing. We knew it would be difficult; we were well aware of that. However, it is important that we also recognize the mistakes we made, with the intention of being better tomorrow and in the upcoming matches,”” summarized the Maribor strategist his first impressions after successfully overcoming the second European hurdle.
“It is very important that we remained focused until the end, even though the opponent scored in the last minute. We had a lot of open space and opportunities, which we did not capitalize on. This is an indicator that you must always punish the opponent in such situations. We did not give them much space, yet we were punished twice. If we do not take a step forward here, it will not be good, but I believe we will move in that direction to a higher level,” Šimundža added after the advancement.
The next challenge for the pride of Styria will be Vojvodina, who are theoretically an easier opponent, but the purple team has already felt how quickly things can unfold in Europe this year and that every mistake is punished. “”Every match you play in Europe brings additional experience. For the individual, the team, and the club as a whole. When certain things happen during matches, they need to be processed and useful insights drawn; it is no different in our case. We saw that we are capable of dominating in certain parts of the matches. If we look at all four matches now, two against Botev and two against Craiova, we created a lot of opportunities while allowing the opponent very little. However, we conceded goals too cheaply, and these are things we need to analyze well and eliminate.””
Šimundža: “”Undoubtedly, a challenging test awaits us.””
The 16-time national champions have been facing certain personnel issues since the beginning of the season, which, as it seems, will be a thing of the past in the final part of the qualifiers. “”Everyone was a hero, with pluses and minuses. We know what kind of things have been happening to us lately, and we simply did not have any more solutions. Therefore, it is a relief to know that Soudani and Karič will rejoin us, and Vrhovec is already with us. The squad will expand in the future and automatically raise the quality.””
“”It is difficult to say anything more specific after the match. Based on the result, our next opponents posed quite a tough nut to crack for the Ajax team, so undoubtedly a challenging test awaits us. From the first information we have gathered, they are striving to get closer to the top of the Serbian league, but in any case, it is a demanding opponent that will receive great attention and consequently thorough preparation,”” were the words with which the 52-year-old already somewhat directed his focus towards the next European opponent of his charges.
This text was automatically translated using AI.
Author: editorial Football Planet
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