Our youth team played a big match on Sunday against one of the top teams in the age group, Universitatea Cluj, keeping all three points at home. How did head coach Goran Kopunović see the game? Find out below.

Our youth team played a big match on Sunday against one of the top teams in the age group, Universitatea Cluj, keeping all three points at home. How did head coach Goran Kopunović see the game? Find out below.

The coach emphasized from the outset the difficulty of facing the Cluj side:

– This was our fourth match against Universitatea Cluj. We played three times away – in the regular season, the play-off and the cup – and we couldn’t win any of those games. Still, they were always good matches, because in my opinion Universitatea is currently one of the best teams in the country in this age group. For me, this is always a real derby.

Kopunović highlighted that his team prepared consciously and without pressure:

– We prepared very well and really wanted the win. I told the players there is no pressure: we just have to do what we practice and what we prepare before every match.

According to the coach, their intended style of play was evident on the pitch:

– It was a real, physical match and I am very satisfied. We had periods where we played very well. My philosophy is direct, fast football, and we scored two beautiful goals from that. We also had three or four huge chances that we missed, but that’s part of a game like this.

However, the second half also brought a more difficult spell:

– We had a weaker period in the second half after our second goal. We gave away the initiative, lost the ball too easily, and our passing game didn’t work. But the boys regrouped and we started playing again. The opponent rightly received a penalty, but fortunately we still managed to finish the match with a victory.

The coach also spoke about the team’s mentality and his philosophy:

– For me, it is important that the players are happy: to come to training and matches with joy and to go home the same way. That’s what I saw now as well. We work very hard, and they know that my mentality is a bit different. I am a professional – for me football is not just a game. The club management and the senior team coaches expect me to prepare young players for senior football.

For example, on Saturday, Brugger Dániel started for the senior team – a player we have been working with intensively for 11 months and one of our best. But not only him: so far, eight youth players have trained with the first team, and three have already made their debut in the top division. These numbers show that we are on the right path.

At the end of the match, he delivered a short but meaningful message to his players:

– After the match I told them four words: happiness, respect, pride – and finally I congratulated them. That says everything I think about them and what we represent. We move forward, we still have four matches left. All of them will be decisive, real derby games for us, but I don’t look at the table. What matters much more is that my players continue to develop during these matches and be as well prepared as possible to become senior players in the summer and make the most of this opportunity.