Our U15 team played on Saturday in Bucharest’s university campus, in the Regie district, where Zoltán Fogarasi led his boys against the side of the “German academy”.
Our U15 team played on Saturday in Bucharest’s university campus, in the Regie district, where Zoltán Fogarasi led his boys against the side of the “German academy”.
Once home to top-flight club Sportul Studențesc, the legendary Regie Stadium is now the base of Academia Germană’s youth teams, and this weekend it hosted our U15 side for their Elite League play-off match against their age-group counterparts of the “German academy”. The goalless draw was analysed by the head coach, who pointed out that they had gone through a very difficult week, as problems that emerged midweek made the starting eleven uncertain until very late. “We were only able to train with the full squad on Friday, which made our expectations for the weekend match somewhat uncertain. The team managed to disprove this, delivering a very mature, aggressive and at times creative and brave performance against the current leaders. Even though the opponents started with great momentum, they were completely clueless against our well-organised defence in the first half. They hit the post with an unexpected long-range shot, but apart from that they didn’t pose any danger to our goal. From our defensive block, which shifted back into a 5-4-1 shape, we won many balls and repeatedly launched promising counterattacks. With slightly firmer decision-making in front of goal or a braver approach in offensive duels, we could have been even more dangerous” – said Zoltán Fogarasi.
“Even so, we created several chances, but mistakes kept creeping into the final touch. In the second half the pressure on us increased, but apart from a few opportunities and two bigger chances they weren’t able to put us under sustained pressure. We had the match ball at our feet, as in the final minutes we were twice almost one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but we missed these big chances and our hopes of victory faded. Overall, though, we cannot be dissatisfied with the draw, because based on the flow of the game, it was a fair result. The difficulty of the match represented another step forward in the players’ development. I am especially pleased that, looking at both the regular season and the autumn phase of the play-off, in away matches we remained unbeaten except for one game, which shows the team’s character, discipline, and the fact that even in high-stakes away games they don’t shy away from challenges. This provides a good foundation for future work. And today’s match can serve as a point of reference later as well, as we held our own in a very intense, hard-fought and high-quality match against a well-prepared and strong team” – emphasised the head coach.
R. A.
Photo: Zoltán Pál