“The feeling that we lost this match”: Ivic about the victory of FC Krasnodar over the “Wings of the Soviets”

Football club “Krasnodar” reached the finals of the Way of Regions of the Cup of Russia. In a dramatic match at home, the bulls won “Wings of the Soviets” in the penalty shootout. In regular time, Krasnodar were leading 2:0, had a numerical majority, but conceded goals in the 3rd and 5th added minutes. But in the penalty shootout, the black-and-greens won 3-0.

After the match, the team coaches took part in a press conference.

– I have a feeling that we lost this match, – admitted the head coach of “Krasnodar” Vladimir Ivic. – It is clear that we have a lot of young players, but we have to be smart and know how we want to play. First of all, we play for the sake of the result – reaching the next stage. We were leading 2-0 and had an extra player. After the 90th minute, in such a situation, conceding 2 goals is simply not serious. I am the coach of this team and I start with myself first. I didn’t do the job well. Didn’t make maybe the right substitutions, didn’t do something to keep it from happening.

The Serbian specialist said that the removal of the opponent in the 47th minute of the match had a negative impact on his team.

– I’m sure we played better when it was 11 on 11. We were the best team from the very beginning, had more possession, created some chances. But after the first goal and the removal of the opponent, we seemed to have stopped running. Everyone thought that someone else would do the work for him. This is the worst thing in football. We are a professional football club. And we want to win matches like other teams. We’re not here just to play, right? When you see an opponent, you want to play. And win.

Vladimir Ivic noted that young footballers need to work hard on themselves.

– For young players, and we have a lot of them, it is especially important to reflect after each match, analyze the game, review videos. This is the first step in getting better. It’s not just: “I’m the best here, I should be at the base, and why am I not playing?” If you are 19-20 years old and have these thoughts in your head, then you are on the wrong track in your attempts to become a professional footballer.

The Krasnodar mentor did not share the details of what he said to the team in the locker room immediately after the match.

– What I said in the locker room, it will remain there, – summed up the coach.

– Before the match, we had a lot of injuries, we made an extensive rotation of the composition, – said the coach of Krylia Sovetov Igor Osinkin. – The first half didn’t work out. In the second, we played in the minority, I don’t know why our player was sent off … They dragged out the match, transferred it to a penalty shootout. Next was the lottery.

He told what could be the reason for all missed penalties.

– If I knew what happened… I suppose that after such an ending, when we scored 2 goals in the last minutes, our players emotionally splashed out and they did not have enough concentration on penalties. I think it was important in this situation to score the first blow. Further it would be easier. But we are only guessing. As it would be in reality, no one knows.

Krasnodar will also play the final match of the Path of Regions at home. The rival will be Akron Togliatti, playing in the First League. The game will be held on one of the dates May 2-4. The exact day of the match will be announced later.

The Bulls will play the next game in Moscow on April 24 against Spartak in the RPL.