Ante Šimundža after successfully completing half of the task: “Our belief about Vojvodina has been confirmed, that it is a very serious and good team”

Published on 9. August 2024 9. August 2024

Photo: Žan Pak

Another dream European Thursday for Slovenian club football has passed, and part of it was Maribor, which narrowly defeated Vojvodina 1-0 at home in Ljudski vrt. Despite having played with a man advantage for over half an hour due to a lengthy stoppage time, it initially seemed that the Serbian team had been further motivated by the exclusion.

“An extremely challenging opponent. An extremely challenging match. A hard-fought win, but looking back at it all, I can say it was deserved,” said Maribor’s coach Ante Šimundža succinctly after the match.

The 57th minute of the match could be described as moving from one extreme to another, as the Maribor players went from hell to heaven in a matter of moments. “This seems to be a law of football or life. We were too superficial in that situation, where Ažbe (Jug) had to intervene after a poor pass. The fact is, we played backward instead of forward. Consequently, the opposing team, based on their quality and speed, created a chance, and everything unfolded as it did. With some luck, we got the leading goal on the other side, but at this level, such mistakes cannot be made. I believe these things will improve with experience,” said Šimundža.

Although it seemed that the guests had only a few distant attempts, Šimundža was particularly unhappy with the defense’s handling of set pieces. “We gave them one chance ourselves and they had two situations from set pieces – a long throw at the end of the match and a crossbar before that. We managed to neutralize them through open play quite well, but we need to be better in defending set pieces,” he added.

It seemed that Maribor might squander their advantage as they conceded a goal despite having an extra player on the field, but Ante Šimundža found reasons for joy. “Excellent. I’m happy for Soudani. He showed the right energy in the previous match as well. We are a team that works for each other, and Hillal has a great desire to score. The situation turned out as it did,” said the coach.

Looking ahead to future preparations and challenges, Šimundža remarked: “Preparation will not differ from today’s outcome. It is important that we remained calm after the opponent’s red card, that we sought the goal and pressed. Despite the opponent playing with five in defense, we managed to break through and score. The win was hard-earned, but in my opinion, deserved. This should not satisfy us, as we must be aware that we will sweat and struggle in the return leg if we want to advance,” said Šimundža, who has previously played and coached for Maribor in the Champions League.

When Maribor conceded a goal in the 77th minute, it looked like they were helplessly watching Vojvodina’s action. “It has happened several times that we were all close and still conceded a goal. I said that, like with set pieces, we need to raise our level in this aspect of the game to prevent these goals,” he concluded.

16-time national champions clearly enjoy the greatest fan support in the land of the sunny side of the Alps, especially when the most loyal supporters are joined by others in moments of success. “I agree. It means we gave the audience that energy. As I’ve mentioned before, it doesn’t make sense to come onto the field and expect the audience to give us the energy we need for the game. We need to turn things around, which means we need to be the ones sending energy to the fans. Our supporters are very important and demanding, and we are aware of that, so we strive to perform at the highest level in every match to repay them with our performances,” said Šimundža.

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While Craiova could not respond effectively to the red card, Vojvodina did manage to. “After the red card, we wanted to increase the pace, especially in attack, but then the situation with the conceded goal happened, which is impossible to predict. On the other hand, it confirms our belief in Vojvodina as a very serious and good team,” Šimundža added.

“A positive result is always good. If I could choose now, I would prefer a bigger margin, but based on what we showed, that is not realistic, so a positive result is very important,” said the 52-year-old coach ahead of next week’s return leg in Bačka Topola.

This text was automatically translated using AI.

Author: editorial Football Planet