Schum rues Haifa exit

Maccabi Haifa FC coach Yitzhak Schum rued failing to qualify for the UEFA Champions League second stage despite watching his side secure a UEFA Cup spot thanks to a 3-3 draw against Olympiakos Piraeus FC at the Gipedo Rizoupolis stadium.

Impressive achievement
Haifa enjoyed the cushion of being able to concede four goals and only score once to still reach the UEFA Cup – but three goals away from home, where they are yet to win in the Champions League, was a considerable achievement.

Phenomenal record
"This just increases our disappointment for failing to qualify to the second phase as our performances against Bayer [04] Leverkusen should have earned us more than zero points," said Schum, who was nevertheless full of praise for his players. "They deserve all the credit in the world for scoring 12 goals in the group stages which is phenomenal."

'Surprise for Olympiakos'
Two early strikes, inside the opening ten minutes, gave Haifa the perfect start, a fact not lost on Schum. "I don't think we were lucky not to concede more goals," he said. "We knew we would need to spend most of the game defending but the first goals were a surprise for Olympiakos and did the damage. Our forwards were much quicker than theirs and more accurate in their finishing. It was our plan to let the Greek team have space to give us a chance on the counterattack."

'Inability to qualify'
Midfield player Walid Badir, who hit the opener on nine minutes, reiterated Schum's message. "The thing I will take with me is the disappointment from our inability to qualify for the next stage of the Champions League - I don't care who we get in the [UEFA Cup] draw," he said. "We have a great team and an unbelievable manager. We created numerous opportunities home and away."

Too eager
Olympiakos, who were so eager to get an early goal they left themselves open at the back, allowed Badir in to get their night off to the worst possible start. Worse news was to come when Yakubu Ayegbeni, who hit a hat-trick on Matchday Two in the 3-0 defeat of the Greek team, doubled the lead. Alexios Alexandris pulled one back but Yaniv Katan struck immediately afterwards to quash any comeback. Second-half goals from Andreas Niniadis and Paraskevas Antzas earned the draw.

'Problems at the back'
New Olympiakos coach Srecko Katanec, who was leading the side for the first time in Europe, blamed the defeat on indecisive defending. "The fact was we had many problems at the back and we lacked discipline. One of my main goals is to remedy this worry," he said. "I didn't see any general team problems but the mistakes we made were individual and there's not a lot you can do about that. I have known my players for a short while and I'm in no position to criticise them, but I did notice we lacked pace."

High hopes
Haifa may have had high hopes of a place in the second group stage, but when they return home to reflect on their acheivements in Europe's premier club competition they can certainly be proud of the way they battled to the very end.