Itched by football’s occasional harshness, Zoran: A wasting team is a loser
“Football is sometimes harsh.” This is how Zoran Mamić started his post-match press conference to comment on his squad’s 1-2 loss to Dibba. He was not satisfied with his men’s slow performance at the midfield and difficulties in carrying out long-range passes; “Our offensive effectiveness was neutralized and I was forced to release Lee Myung-Joo from his defense position to play in the midfield to take advantage of his offensive capabilities,” he commented.
“In the second half, we controlled the proceedings and created some scoring opportunities but three of them were denied by the goalpost; while our rivals managed to score from two attacks,” he added.
He fired at refereeing, “I promise this will be my first but last time I criticize refereeing; but I wonder why we were denied a correct penalty kick and why referees allow the rivals enough time to play their free kicks; it’s a clear waste of time; that’s not true football.”
Asked to identify the true reason behind his squad’s loss today, Zoran replied: “Simply because we couldn’t take advantage of the scoring opportunities. A team that wastes opportunities and is denied its right in a correct penalty kick will definitely lose.”
Evaluating his men, Zoran admitted that Al Ain’s new recruit Nasser Al Shamrani did not show his real potential in the last two games and others didn’t perform as expected too; besides some key players were absent. “However, Nasser was forced to step back to the midfield and on the flanks; that didn’t help him. Besides, he was not lucky enough today,” he pointed out.
Regarding Al Ain’s position, Zoran said that they have to wait for the results of their rivals; “But meanwhile, we have to maximize our efforts and unleash our potential during the coming 8 encounters,” he concluded.
