"First, I congratulate Levski on reaching the next stage. I can't say much right now. If you can't score goals in two games, the opponent is more worthy of advancing to the next stage. I thank our fans greatly today. They created a very nice atmosphere. It's very difficult to say anything about this game tactically. We are very disappointed. But we must forget this disappointment, these bad feelings. From tomorrow, we must think about the championship. We need to improve many things. We must try to join the Eurocups again, which is our dream."
Idman.biz reports that this was said by Sabah's head coach Valdas Dambrauskas after the 0:2 defeat to Bulgaria's Levski in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League at home.
- Although there was no difference in the squad, today we saw a more timid Sabah compared to Sofia. What was the reason?
- I don't know why you call it cowardice? I consider it disrespectful to our players. We played disciplined in Sofia. I couldn't say that a draw was a good result. The last second separated us from a draw. We have a lot to improve. If you analyze the first part of today's game, how our players were opening up between the lines. There was a difference today. The opponent was not taking risks, we had to take more risks. We made one mistake in the first half, which resulted in a goal. After that, we took risks. When we came to the third zone, we lacked more accurate passes. We had difficulty reaching the gaps.
- Do you think that Sabah's game today was disrespectful to the fans who came to the stadium?
- It is not in our hands to control these people. Everything in football depends on the result. If there was a good result, they would thank us, they would not leave the stadium. But I try to be patient with them. We are sorry that we upset them. At least we could have equalized the score and increased the intrigue. Fan culture cannot be created in one day.
- Do you admit that the effectiveness in attack decreased after Pavol Shafranko and Jessi Sekidika left the field? Can it be said that it was an unsuccessful substitution?
- I don't remember wrongly that we made this change after the 70th minute. Of course, there is good intention behind every change. We know that the player who comes in is fresher and stronger. We want him to contribute to the game. If they scored a goal, you would say how did you read the game? Unfortunately, it didn't work today. There is good intention behind every change. Kahim Parris also entered the field. Anatoli Nuriyev entered instead of Jessi. Khayal as well. We wanted more creativity. The center defender also entered the field to do something from standard situations. Unfortunately, it didn't work today.
- Do you think that Sabah lost both games because they did not transfer the required number of quality players in time?
- The opponent had only 1 shot in the first half. In the second half, we needed a goal. The opponent retreated a lot, closed down and did not give us gaps. We were the side controlling the game. Levski couldn't do anything in counterattacks. They just had one chance, and they took advantage of it. We had similar chances to them. We couldn't take advantage of it. We were playing against Levski, they were 2nd in Bulgaria. Their transfer value is higher than ours. We also tried our best in Sofia. Only 10 seconds separated us from a good result. It also had an impact on the second game. Our players did everything. But this solution does not mean that we send the players away and bring in new ones. I am not that kind of coach. This is not a solution. We need to work harder and find smarter solutions to have a more successful performance in the Eurocups next season.
- What is the goal in the league?
- That's a very good question. Our goal is to do our best to win every match in the championship.
Idman.biz