Ivan Leko spoke at a press conference this Tuesday about the shock of the round of 16 of the Belgian Cup which will see Standard travel to Genk, leader of the Pro League. The Croatian coach is aiming for nothing other than qualification for the quarters in a competition which has often been successful for him…
“The Belgian Cup is great, said Ivan Leko. The final is the most beautiful match you can play in Belgium. We know that we are playing against Genk away, they are the leader of the Pro League, they are the favorites. But in the Cup, you never know. I have always been very lucky in the Cup, as a coach and as a player. We will do everything to qualify. In the championship (0-0, editor’s note)we created a surprise there, we played on our qualities and we achieved a very good result which gave us confidence. Shows that, even without a big CV and without a big salary, you can do something in Belgium. We are motivated to achieve a result.“
The last stone in the shoe of the Standard coach is the injury ofArnaud Bodartwhich leaked to the press to his great surprise earlier today. Our colleagues from Evening evoke a muscle tear in the thigh and an unavailability of several weeks, but Ivan Leko preferred to kick in and maintain the suspense…
“If Arnaud can’t play on Wednesday, it’s a shame, commented Ivan Leko. The press thinks they know about certain things before the coach, that’s great! I arrived at 11 a.m., spoke with the doctor, and he warned me that this information was in the press. More seriously, I’m a little sad and surprised, more than angry. But who is injured or not, I won’t talk about it from now on. He played two very good matches, he gave quality, confidence and calm to the team. It’s complicated behind, there are too many absentees, but we will look and find solutions.“
The T1 of Rouches also returned to the division of his troops in Charleroi, where Standard was joined in stoppage time (1-1) and missed a golden opportunity to join the Top 6 and string together two consecutive victories.
“The team was very disappointed after the draw conceded in the last seconds in Charleroi, but that’s football, you have to learn lessons from it. Meven if it is difficult to accept. I was proud of my team: we demonstrated once again that this team is strong, that it has a very good mentality, a very good organization… It’s a shame, this equalizer. Without this action, we would be in 5th place in the rankings, and that would be great for everyone. I think we are on the right track. This team wants to prove that they can beat everyone, that’s a good signal.“
