Uhrin praises team for second half

20. 04. 2007 |  

Dušan Uhrin opened the press conference by saying he had never been able to grasp a win in the Zlín's Letná stadium and even Sparta Prague had recently lost their game there. Although Zlín is nowadays fighting for survival in the League, Uhrin said, he believed their team possesses very good qualities, and is well consolidated. "But still, we wanted to win this match and I am most pleased we have not failed."
Coach Uhrin praised his team especially for the gameplay in the second half. "There were too many standard situations offered to our opponent in the first half. We returned from the locker room with a dedication to add accuracy to our play, and to increase motion. I do have to praise the team for the second half because they played very well," Uhrin pointed out.
He also had to react to a remark that asked how much he was aware that he had just conducted his 100th League match. "Frankly, I did not even know it was my 100th League match. I had not promised the team any special bonus; neither am I going to celebrate as there is no need to. The competition is still far from over and we haven't won anything yet. We are still running for the European cup."
Does the League victory in Zlín bear any special attributes in respect to the Cup match with the same team next week? "I am pleased by this win also in respect to the upcoming Cup game with Zlín; we have put ourselves into a good initial position."
Uhrin also quoted that the opponent's players showed visible evidence of stamina depletiation, as the break they had had from the previous match was one day shorter than for his own team. "A day's difference does play a role in a tight schedule." Mladá Boleslav is using their experience from autumn last year, when they played most of their forty matches in the sequence Wednesday-weekend-Wednesday. The tightness of their schedule was caused by the accumulation of three simultaneous competitions (the league, The Bohemia and UEFA cups). "Our experience from last autumn is now coming handy for us," Uhrin added.
Pavel Hoftych, the Zlín coach, regretted the score opportunities Šmahaj and Kraus wasted near the closing whistle in the first half. "Our commitment was to intensify our gameplay in the front, but the adversary scored the first goal through Pecka, and that prevented us from immersing ourselves deeper in the game. Mladá Boleslav now has a very good team, and the match was more demanding that the one we fought with Sparta Prague," Hoftych said.