Zaza expects no quarter for AaB
Thursday, September 18, 2008
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The hero of the draw at Celtic FC, Aalborg BK goalkeeper Karim Zaza said the Danish champions' will take plenty of confidence from their opening Group E game, but concedes they have plenty of tough tests ahead.
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Pivotal role
The Moroccan produced a man-of-the-match performance in the goalless Group E draw away to Celtic FC – his sound overall display capped by a penalty save to deny Barry Robson and a magnificent stop late on to keep out a Shunsuke Nakamura free-kick. The former Brøndby IF man was delighted by the outcome in Glasgow and heaped praise upon his AaB team-mates in the wake of the match.
No rest
Nonetheless, with fixtures against the likes of Manchester United FC and Villarreal CF still to come, Zaza knows there remains plenty work to be done if Bruce Rioch's outsiders are to achieve their goal of securing third place in the section. "I'm happy because I did my job for AaB," the 33-year-old said. "It was a great result for us and all the guys worked very hard, but there's still a long way to go and we know it will be very difficult."
'Once-in-a-lifetime'
"OK, we had a good result against Celtic, but we must take it one game at a time and we have five more very tough fixtures remaining. The main thing about this result is that it gives us confidence. Perhaps we are the weakest team in the group, in terms of resources, but we have to enjoy it because for many of us this is a once-in-a-lifetime situation."
Not over yet
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Celtic's most experienced player in the UEFA Champions League, started as a substitute, but was thrust into action 18 minutes from time as Gordon Strachan's side searched desperately for a breakthrough. Although it did not come, the Dutch international insisted the Scottish champions aren't too downhearted – and backed Robson, whose missed penalty ultimately proved decisive, to bounce back from the disappointment.
'A huge moment'
"They didn't have many chances, really, and I don't think [goalkeeper] Artur Boruc had a save to make," the former PSV Eindhoven striker said. "But we have to take chances ourselves and we failed to do so. We know we are better than that performance. The penalty was a huge moment and Barry was really disappointed to have missed. I've missed penalties myself and I know how that can be, but he's a big man and he'll cope with it." Looking ahead to the daunting trips to Villarreal and Manchester United which follow, Vennegoor of Hesselink added: "We have two difficult games but hopefully we can take some points and give ourselves the opportunity to progress."
