Photo: Karoly Orvay |
– Did Stanislav Cherchesov say in advance that he would score a goal?
He replied to our newspaper, “Moreover, this is not the first time.” Frank Polly, The 28-year-old Ivorian striker Ferencvaros, who scored the first goal of the match in the 20th minute of the second leg of the Champions League qualifier against Slovan in Bratislava on Wednesday. FTC won 4-1 and advanced 5-3 on aggregate to the third round, where they will face Azerbaijani Karabaj. “He came to me like that for the second time, and his intuition came back again.” Before the Hungarian Cup final, he called me and said, Don’t worry, I’ll find the goal. This time, even before leaving for Bratislava, at Népliget, he assured him face to face that he was calm, and that the goal would come.
– Not only did he score a goal against Slovan, he played dangerous football until he was substituted, his tricks came, and he kept the Slovak defenders in check. Did you feel like you had a good day?
“I had a good match, I tried to do my best, to do my best.” In the first match of the duel, unfortunately, the events did not go as I had hoped, we had hoped. There were no chances, we had to fight for the second leg from a bad situation. In Bratislava, the whole team worked brilliantly and we deserved to go ahead. My goal was one of the most important goals of the last period.
– You can see from his movement that once the ball reached Eldar Civic, he was already looking for the right position in the middle. Did they exercise?
“Even during training, the ball often comes to me from the left side.” Eldar has an excellent left foot, and he made two good passes before goal. As soon as the ball left his foot, I was looking to get past the defenders and calculate where the ball might land. Fortunately, I made no mistake.
How did you feel when you scored the goal?
“It is indescribable.” It was an important goal from a psychological point of view, as we traveled to Bratislava thinking that if we wanted to go forward, we had to score. It was important to score as quickly as possible, because it calmed the team.
– In the second half he could have doubled easily, he stayed on the floor after one of his big chances and seemed to bother him a lot. What was on your mind?
– I was angry because we could have finished the match completely. I later succeeded, but in that case I stayed on the ground because I had pain in my leg. Fortunately, it’s not a big deal.
Frank Pooley (right) is trying to keep in good shape for the weekend championship and next week’s BL fight (Photo: KÁROLY ÁRVAI) |
– So far, he has played in all four BL qualifiers, each time as a rookie.
– It’s good that the professional staff trust me, but I tend not to overestimate anything. I work honorably in training sessions, I try to get in the best possible shape by the time of matches, and if Stanislav Cherchesov sees my place in the first team, I am happy. Of course, it won’t be like this all season, since there are more of us as strikers, but if I have to help the team as a substitute next time, I’ll enjoy that too.
– After the victory in Bratislava, a recording spread in the dressing room after the match. Did we hear correctly that they also shouted the rhyme “Rhea, Rhea, Hungary” above their lungs?
We have been liberated a lot, we all feel it, and the struggle against Slovan is important for all of Hungary. Whatever anyone says, we Legion were aware of its importance. I also saw the terrible footage from Bratislava thirty years ago, so our success gave me doubly delightful. We made our fans happy, fought for promotion and could get ready for the third round of the BL playoffs.
– The competitor there will be Azerbaijani Karabag, who beat Poland’s Lech Poznan and then Switzerland’s FC Zurich in the qualifiers. Do you expect an easier or more difficult confrontation than the one facing Slovan?
There are no easy matches in the Champions League, I don’t know much about Qarbaj at the moment, but I know they’ve been through the Champions League group stage like us before, so they can’t be a bad team. We are preparing properly from the Azerbaijani side, we will start the duel away from home on Wednesday, and we will receive all relevant information from the professional crew by then. But now we are still paying attention to Sunday’s opening match on NB I against Puskás Academy, as the tournament is very important to Individual.
UEFA Champions League 2022-2023
Eligible
Round 3
First match (August 3)
20.00: Qarabaj (Azerbaijani) –Ferencvaros
Back cutter (9 Aug)
20.00: Ferencváros– Qarabaj (Azerbaijani)
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