| Victory aiming for Dhivehi League
06 May 2006
Uploaded: 10:40 PM
Friday praying just before the kick off.
Male',
MALDIVES - Victory
narrowly wins against Valencia in tonight’s Dhivehi league
zone 9 qualification round. The decider was scored at the dying
minutes of the second half.
But none of
the teams could take the control in the first half. Valencia who
were using the two foreigners and Azim (Andy) in their striking
force missed out a lot of chances.
But it was Friday
who took the first chance in the 7th minute. But his shot crossed
the goal and went wide from the post.
The first chance
for Valencia came in the 11th minute when Farhad took a shot from
outside the penalty area. His shot went straight to Keeper Imran.
In the 19th
minute, Stainley took a shot after passing two defenders of Victory,
but his shot lacked any power and went straight to Keeper. And in
the next minute yet again Stainley took another shot, but this time
the shot to the corner of the goal was saved by Imran.
In the next
minute, Friday took a very nice shot. But it went inches wide from
the target.
In the 32nd
minute, James took a long range shot from outside the penalty area.
His shot was punched by Keeper Imran. The rebounced ball was shot
by Stainley but Faisal managed to block it for a corner.
And in the last
minute, Azim’s cross was shot by Stainley but keeper punched
it. The rebounced ball was headed by Stainley but it went straight
up and Keeper Imran managed to save it.
But in the second
half, the picture changed completely. Valencia player’s energy
went down and started to play individually. As a result fouls started
to pour in and the play was completely changed.
In the dying
minutes of the match, Victory took the lead from a shot by Ismail.
He was left unmarked when Friday crossed. He took his time and placed
the ball in the bottom corner of the goal.
The match ended
from that score line. Anwar was awarded man of the match.
Great
achievement: Mauroof
In the post
match new conference, Mauroof, coach of Victory Sports Club said
that it was a big achievement to win against Valencia.
“It is a great achievement to win against Valencia. The result
could have gone either way as it was very balanced. They played
very good and created a lot of chances and of course the goal decided
the winner”
He noted the
main difference between the two teams is the fitness level
‘We were more fit both physically and mentally. So at the
last few minutes we controlled the game’
Regarding the
change of Fazeeh during the game, Mauroof noted that he took off
Fazikko not because of an injury but he could not perform as he
expected.
“I used Fazeeh because of his pace to create the extra chance.
But he could not as he came after a long period. So I substituted
with Asad and he created good chances.”
Mauroof mentioned
that Henriksen is much suited to Victory’s play compared to
Friday.
‘Henriksen is technically more matured, but Friday is not
so. We want some one who could control the ball upfront and give
passes from that point”
We are
still learning: Eric
Valencia’s
coach Eric Williams noted that his players played very well but
lost energy later.
“I gave a program to be followed when I left to Indonesia.
But from today’s game I notice that the program was not followed
and I am very disappointed because of it”
Eric noted that
the players started to play individually and it resulted to a big
blow for the entire team.
‘They started to play as individuals and not as a team and
it let us down. I substituted James as he was injured and Stainley
was playing individually. So I pulled him off.”
Eric noted that
Valencia is in a learning stage and needs a lot of improvement.
‘We are still learning and needs a lot of improvement”
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