“The penalty that Greif saved was the click”
MADRID, 28 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The RCD Mallorca coach, Javier Aguirre, has acknowledged that they have “suffered like dogs” in the Copa del Rey semi-final tie against Real Sociedad, in which they sealed their place in the final in the penalty shootout at Reale Arena, and has assured that they had “no pressure whatsoever”, since they were not favorites, and that they did not even rehearse from eleven meters.
“We didn’t have any pressure. I don’t know if you’ll believe me or not, but we didn’t practice penalties; we wrote it down in our program day by day and for some reason, because it rained, because there was wind, because the other guy already left… for Whatever it is, we don’t take penalties. That scenario wasn’t contemplated. When you ask and everyone wants to shoot, you know things are going well. No one is hiding,” he declared at a press conference.
In this sense, he acknowledged that he was “calm” because they were not “favorites.” “We don’t have to be favorites in a competition in which there are eight or ten teams that know beforehand that they can arrive, and not you. That lack of pressure helped us grow in the competition and today we arrived with that calm of knowing that if he beats you it’s normal. They had us subdued in the last games, we came a little to see what would happen, but without putting pressure on ourselves,” he noted.
“We suffered like dogs,” he said, ensuring that “the penalty that Greif saved was the click.” “They are specific moments that came to help us and strengthen our mood,” he revealed. “We were not favorites, in the pools we did not enter any. We reached the final with that dose of fortune that you have to have, with that dose of pressure for the rival that also helps,” he added.
The Mexican coach stated that it is “a pride” to have been able to guide Mallorca to the final. “We have been here for two years and I think the people have accepted us well, they have always supported us since we started, and it is a way of returning the love that the fans give us. The people on the street always wished me luck and encouragement, gave strength,” he said.
“We knew that they, as always, subdue us, take the ball away from us, give us scoring chances, but today we were fortunate to start ahead of the scoreboard and withstand their onslaught. We had the ball a little longer and we were better in defense than other times. They always beat us, we had to go to penalties. It was fortune, the coin fell into the air and landed on its face,” he analyzed the match.
Regarding the rival in the final, be it Atlético or Athletic, he knows that they will not be favorites either, although they will go “to compete.” “Being in this instance, we don’t lose anything,” he said. “We are not used to playing finals. There was no need to influence the importance of the match. They knew that there could be a before and after of this match for their sporting careers. In the locker room there were more players with relegations than with titles. That humility, that self-love of being a professional leads you to commit, leads you to compete, leads you to feel that you can, that the effort is worth it,” he stressed.
Finally, the ‘Vasco’ highlighted two names above the rest: Sergi Darder, who converted the last penalty, and goalkeeper Dominik Greif. “Today destiny put him there and he deserves it. (Darder) He deserves it because he is a good boy, he has endured what is not written, he has worked, he has done an act of humility and seriousness and professional commitment. And Today destiny handed it to him on a plate, he deserved it,” he said.
“And Dominik too, because when I got here he was lying there, hurt his back, he had been there for four months, we didn’t know what to do with him, if we were going to sell him, give him away, I don’t know. The boy did his part, he saw a doctor. Fate gave good news to all that sacrifice of both. These two have suffered a lot and they deserve it,” he concluded.