With a draw earned over the weekend against FC Argeș, and then a confident home victory on Wednesday against Kids Tâmpa Brașov, our U17 team secured its place in the play-off. Head coach Szilárd Mitra gave his assessment of the two matches.

With a draw earned over the weekend against FC Argeș, and then a confident home victory on Wednesday against Kids Tâmpa Brașov, our U17 team secured its place in the play-off. Head coach Szilárd Mitra gave his assessment of the two matches.

On the match against FC Argeș:
– We controlled the game from the very beginning, but once the boys felt we were dominating, they relaxed. We were no longer aggressive enough and, in my opinion, they thought we would win the game anyway. The hosts were dangerous mostly from long balls, and we were careless at a wide free kick, which led to their goal. The first half ended with us playing too loosely.
After the break we realised that our attitude had to change, and with a better mentality we managed to equalise. We created more chances than the opponent, but unfortunately we couldn’t take them, so we had to settle for a draw.

On the match against Kids Tâmpa:
– We prepared for the Brașov team’s style of play, we knew everything about them. The main focus was on avoiding the same mistakes as in previous games: to control the match, to play football and not give gifts to the opponents. At 1–0 we almost slipped, but Karda made a key save.
In the second half we gave them no chance, pressed high and kept the ball for long periods. Our finishing was not perfect, but from the many opportunities we created we scored four goals, securing our play-off spot. For me the positive aspect is that the boys always tried to play football, we didn’t rely on long balls, and this way we reached our first target.