Joy and relief for Braga and Württemberg
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
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Dito was relieved as hosts Braga managed to "shake the pressure" to win their Group A opener, with Württembergischer FV in equally positive mood after their own victory.
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Coach Dito was relieved as his Braga players shrugged off some early nerves to win 3-1 in their UEFA Regions' Cup Group A opener againstZlín Region, though losing boss Petr Zapletal was not too disheartened. Yednyst Plysky trainer Serhiy Bakun is also not throwing in the towel, even though his side went down 2-0 to Wolfgang Kopp's muscular Württembergischer FV side.
Dito, Braga coach
The fact that we are playing at home increased the pressure on our players and you could see just that in the first half. It took too much time for them to improve the quality of their game. I spoke with them at half-time and I think they understood my message. They managed to shake the pressure on their shoulders and the second half was entirely different. We were the better team and we fully deserved this win.
My players struggled with some physical problems due to the fact they are at the end of very demanding season and now I only hope they can recuperate for our next match. This was our first game and we knew nothing of our opponent, but that's not going to be the case on Thursday, as we will be able to watch a DVD of the other Group A match.
Petr Zapletal, Zlín Region coach
First of all I want to say thank you to Portugal for the way we were welcomed. Today we saw a dramatic match. We did our best to keep possession in our opponents' half but Braga were much better than us in that department.
At half-time, I asked my players to increase the tempo but the game started to go very badly for us after we had a player [Patrik Naňák] sent off. We lost the game but the tournament is not over for us and we are already thinking about our next opponents. Our ambitions remain the same and we will play to win.
Yednyst Plysky 0-2 Württembergischer FV
Wolfgang Kopp, Württembergischer FV coach
Getting the three points is what we wanted. We had a good first half then we struggled a bit against a lively Ukrainian team. We are happy with the win and we will keep on the same path.
Serhiy Bakun, Yednyst Plysky coach
We are obviously disappointed with the defeat but this is not the end. I want to congratulate the German team for their win. We wish them the best of luck for the rest of the tournament. The match could have taken another turn if we had scored the penalty but once again this not the end − we are still in the competition.
