Euro League, Final Four, Kirishi (RUS)

Comments from the coaches

Semi-final 1: Kinef Kirishi (RUS) v Mataro (ESP) 11-8

Alexander Kabanov, head coach of Kirishi:
“We didn’t expect such a hard game from Mataro what the Spanish players showed today. This may be due to the fact that our opponents immediately fell behind and they had no other choice. How can I evaluate the play of the goalkeeper Anna Karnaukh today? She played fine. It’s a regular game level for her.”

Pau Cardenal, coach of Mataro:
“From the outside, it might seem we were playing hard. But we had to do something against Kinef. But I think we can play much harder than we actually did. Anyway, it was difficult to compete with the Russian team.”

Semi-final 2: Olympiacos (GRE) v Sabadell (ESP) 7-7 (penalties: 4-2)

Charis Pavlidis, head coach of Olympiacos:
“Today we had a fantastic game! We did just a great job in defense, conceding just seven goals, probably there are only a few teams in Europe who are capable of doing this in a game against Sabadell. When we were trailing 1-5 at halftime the game seemed to have been lost. But we showed passion, we were able to deal with the situation. And when it came to the penalty shootout, I was already sure we would not lose this match.”

Nani Guiu Vidal, head coach of Sabadell:
“For most of the time it was our game. As for the penalties, its outcome can never be predicted. In sports a lot depends on good luck. And we didn’t have that today.”

Bronze medal match: Sabadell v Mataro 11-8

Nani Guiu Vidal, head coach, Sabadell:
“Yesterday we were only 24 seconds from the final, and today it was very difficult to set up the team for playing. We tried to do get back in shape both in the morning and in the afternoon. But the game showed that it was still a very difficult task. And I can congratulate my players that finally they could cope with this challenge.”

Florin Bonca, head coach, Mataro:
“Of course we wanted to do better and win the game for the 3rd place. But Sabadell is an experienced team, it knows our weaknesses. Anyway, we’re glad to have participated in the Final Four. For us it is the first such experience and it was very useful.”

Final: Olympiacos v Kinef 6-7

Alexander Kabanov, head coach, Kirishi:
“With everything that has been done for water polo in Kirishi and with such a magnificent support from the fans today, we simply had no right to lose this game.”

Charis Pavlidis, head coach, Olympiacos:
“We didn’t have a very good first quarter and gave too much advantage for our opponents. But we were able to show our character and returned to the match. But the time wasn’t sufficient to complete our comeback. To my opinion, a couple of pretty challengeable decisions of the referees had an impact to the outcome of the game.”

For more details, play-by-play stats visit www.len.eu

29 April 2017