Ferreira: “I feel immense pride in coaching these players”

Having earned a memorable win against Olympiacos in the Greek Cup, PAOK head coach Abel Ferreira expressed his pride, but Pedro Martins is still confident that his team will qualify.

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It turned out to be a memorable encounter at the Toumba Stadium. Inside the opening eight minutes, Olympiacos boasted a commanding two-goal lead against arch-rivals PAOK with a pair of markers from Ahmed Hassan and Guilherme from point blank range, but the Dikefalos tou Vorra soon responded as Dimitris Pelkas and Josip Misic struck gold. Pelkas subsequently grabbed the winner from the penalty spot in the second half to secure a 3-2 advantage for PAOK ahead of the second leg of the Greek Cup semi-final in Piraeus.

“This was only the first half of the tie,” remarked Ferreira. “We have to fight hard in Piraeus in order to qualify for the final of the Greek Cup. When you play for PAOK, a club which fights for titles, you always feel the pressure. This concerns both the coaches and players. We simply have to live with it and do the best possible job. Good captains can steer their ships through difficult waters. Football is judged by the smallest details. In Xanthi, we could have scored in the last minute, but today we gained confidence. I feel immense pride in coaching this group of players.”

“What counts is the defeat,” stated Martins. “A loss is a loss. However, it’s good that we will have the second leg at the Karaiskakis Stadium, I believe that we will qualify for the next phase of the tournament. The first 15 minutes of play were crazy. Both teams scored two goals with their maiden two opportunities. In the second half, we could have scored, but we ended up conceding. The tie is open, but I really do believe that we will win. We must make sure that our players are psychologically ready for all competitions.”

Dimitris Pelkas, the PAOK hero of the day, was delighted with the dramatic comeback: “We went from hell to paradise,” beamed the attacking midfielder. “We did everything possible in order to get back into the game. As you know, we haven’t had a good 10 days with losing to Olympiacos and drawing at Xanthi, but we spoke about the need to turn this situation around. We really want to go and secure qualification in Piraeus.”

“At the start of the game, we took advantage of PAOK’s mistakes in defence, but then maybe we got carried away,” said Olympiacos winger, Giorgos Masouras. “The two goals which we conceded completely changed the match. However, the away goals make things easier for us, we will give 100% in order to win this competition and the Super League. Results of our games in Greece depend on our own performance level.”

Enea Mihaj, making a rare appearance in the PAOK team, spoke about the importance of not giving up: “The history of this club teaches us that PAOK never give up. Yes, it was difficult, but we performed well during the opening stages after Olympiacos had scored their two goals. In truth, despite having trailed by two at one point, we should have won by more than just a score of 3-2. We have time to improve before the second leg takes place.”

“It was a great match, but we lacked concentration for the first two PAOK goals,” admitted scorer of the first Olympiacos goal, Ahmed Hassan. “We’re not happy with this result, but we believe that we can turn it around in the second game in Piraeus. No one can celebrate anything today. We will continue thinking in a positive manner.”

By: Shaun Nicolaides

Image source: to10.gr

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