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KEK ABOUT HISTORY, HIDDINK ABOUT DISAPPOINTMENT
The after-match conference of the Slovenian head
coach Matjaz Kek turned to a gala rally so the Russian caretaker Guus
Hiddink had to answer the journalists' questions on the street.
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Matjaz Kek (L) and Guus Hiddink Photo REUTERS
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"It is very difficult to me to give any comments now,"
said the Slovenian coach Kek. "I am still full of emotions. This
was a historic match for us. I thank every player of my team."
"Today we have written history. History with the happy end. The whole
country was behind us and we could feet their support."
"We grabbed a deserved victory. For us it is a great honour to be
among the best teams of the world. Slovenia's wish has come true."
"I cannot comment on the two sending offs of the Russians for I could
see quite well these episodes. I can say only that we were best on the
pitch today."
"Today's victory is not down to any individual player, or to the
defensive line but the team as a whole. We prepared thoroughly for this
match and analysed the Russian style of play beforehand. I'm so pleased
that we accomplished our plan."
The conference of Kek ran quite over time. The press attache of the Russian
national team Ilya Kazakov indicated to his colleague for several times
that it was high time to halt.
But the Slovenians inspired by the happiness of victory were ready to
speak about the match with Russia for a long time. Everything would not
have been so bad but Kek talked to the journalists mostly in Slovenian
that caused a surge of righteous indignation.
The head coach of the Russian team would not wait for the press conference
of his peer to end and left the hall. At the team's bus he answered the
questions of the Russian-speaking mass media.
The Dutch coach stressed that the key moment was the sending off of Alexandr
Kerzhakov in the middle of the second half. The players were sadly looking
from the bus. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov was not hiding his tears.
"We are very disappointed with the outcome, and the players have
not hidden their disappointment in the dressing room," said Guus
Hiddink. "We lacked only one goal for the draw."
"This is a very sad defeat for the Russian football. Alas, the reality
is that Russia will not be going to the World Cup finals."
"In Moscow we conceded one goal. A pesky goal. And this became one
of the reasons of our defeat."
"In the return leg in the second half we had two wonderful moments
to score but we failed to convert. In defence we made several blunders
the one of which cost us a goal. We tried to exert pressure on the opponents
but the offensive play did not work out."
"In the episode with sending off of Yuriy Zhirkov there was a provocation
from the subs' bench of the Slovenian national team. the ball was struck
out but the opponents did not want to return it to the game. There were
only several minutes left in the match and Yuriy hurried to bring the
ball back into play. and Slovenians prevented him from doing it. It was
quite naturally that he poked one of the players away."
"For Zhirkov this yellow card became second. To my mind the refereeing
panel did not study the episode but just rose to it."
"There were refereeing mistakes in the match. but I want to underline
that they were not the reason of our defeat. It would have been too simple."
"The episode with Kerzhakov happened too far from the bench and I
could not see all the details. Probably that is why I did not see anything
criminal in his actions. But if Alexandr did not strike the goalie intentionally
it was a goof of the Norwegian referee."
"Slovenia fought to the end for their chance. The goal at the end
of the game at the Luzhniki gave them hope, and today they used their
advantage at on their home ground."
"In the dressing rooms there was disappointment. All the guys are
upset. When you do not get what you have stived for for a long time and
what you want so much disappoitment comes."
"Having conceded a goal at the end of the match in Moscow we postponed
the decision of the question with South Africa till the return leg. So
the main worries were associated with the fact whether the players would
be able to recover fully."
"I do not want to criticize someone in particular. When you lose
it is always easy to shift the blame on a single person, even easier to
find a scapegoat outside the team. But I would not do it."
"I have an operating contract with Russia till July 2010. I think
in several months we will come to an agreement whether I am going to continue
my work with this team."
Sport
Express Daily, 19 Nov 2009
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