Belgrade's Milikić hoping for final chance
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Article summary
Belgrade's hopes of reaching the final have increased after an opening day 3-2 defeat of South Region Russia in Group B, with coach Jovica Milikić saying his side's "tactics worked well".
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Belgrade coach Jovica Milikić reflected on a job well done after his team executed his tactical game plan to perfection against South Region Russia, whose trainer was far from downbeat with defeat on Matchday 1 of the UEFA Regions' Cup. Group B rivals Ankara and Leinster & Munster drew 0-0, a result which left the former's trainer, Hameş Şentürk, much the happier.
South Region Russia 2-3 Belgrade
Jovica Milikić, Belgrade coach
I am very happy because it is a good result. It was our opening match and the first one is always very, very hard. We had a game plan for the first half because we picked up some information about the Russian team, and these tactics worked well. Now, before the next match, we want to watch a DVD of our opponents and then we will make a tactical plan. We have to play well in the next match because we want to make it to the final.
Oleg Sanko, South Region Russia coach
We were nervous in the first half, which is why I think we missed plenty of opportunities. When you are 2-0 down it is very hard to regain momentum, but we got a goal back and in the second half we were better. We didn't let our heads drop; we tried to fight and get back into the game. In the end we just needed a little more time, but we had good moments. In the next game we will have much more will to win. We can take confidence from how we played in the second half.
Hameş Şentürk, Ankara coach
The most important thing in the tournament is not to lose the first game. We played with ten men and didn't lose, so we are very happy. I'm pretty thrilled with the result given the circumstances. Leinster played much better than us but we gave a good performance and, in the end, we could have won. However, we couldn't play our usual game because the players were too excited, what with this being the first match.
Gerry Smith, Leinster & Munster manager
They had ten men for the last 20 minutes. Their goalkeeper [Mustafa Köseci] is the man of the match; he's made four brilliant saves. In a tournament like this the first goal is crucial. They have some very good individual players and are very dangerous on the break, so you have to be careful. Had we scored it would have been a completely different game. We created a lot of chances against a very good Turkish team.
