ZEKIC EXPECTS SIMILAR MATCHES

Osijek confirmed their primacy in Slavonia without any second-guessing on the fans’ part whether Osijek will earn points against Cibalija in Gradski Vrt. We saw a highly driven Osijek during the first half, therefore achieving a huge advantage and sealing the fate of the Vinkovci boys.

Record-breaking coach Zoran Zekic said the following on the past match:

“I would like to thank and congratulate my team for a fantastic show during the first half. We scored 3 goals and had additional chances, so that we may safely say that some good football was indeed played in Gradski Vrt. We were aggressive, vicious and relentless with the ball control.  I congratulate to all the workers in the NK Osijek family and, of course, our fans for yet another Europe League placement. Regardless of certain criticisms pointed at our boys, I still think that this match was a huge success, especially due to the fact that it results in Osijeks 2^nd placement into the European qualifiers. When it comes to Cibalija, their coach and their fans, I remember what we had been going through so many years ago before we emerged as a new team and collective. We must never forget the bad times because it will make sweet moments like this victory all the sweeter.”

 

Words on the Street were Fuel to the Fire

 

The press asked the question if the players were aware of the importance of the match and the many reasons for that. Zekic posited: “They were aware of it. You yourselves know that the circumstances weren’t in our favour. The word on the street tends to have some negative stories circling, but it’s only one more reason for us to prove them wrong. I congratulate my boys again for their delivery. I hope that we will get to watch them in their best shape in all future matches, especially the ones left for this season. I believe that we will muster the strength to show strength of character in the final 2 matches in order to play at our best.”

 

Skoric was so good, Zekic wants to clone him

 

Osijek showed up great during the first half, while the pace slowed down in the second one. I don’t like to have favorites among my players, but I’ve got to compliment Skoric on his ability to play multiple positions at a very high level simultaneously. What he showed as a midfielder was another level of football prowess because of his ability to realize his ideas and visions for placing the ball just where he wants it to be, thereby directing the course of the match like a film director directs a movie. Furthermore, we had Grezda, who blew all his ammo out in the first few moments due to his not being able to save his energy. After a longer break from play, it’s understandable that he still isn’t at his best. Boban was missed and we couldn’t count on Lopa and Ejupi, not even on Malenica, but I hope that they will recuperate quickly, or at the very least, be at our disposal when the match vs. Hajduk comes. Then, we will have to be fresher and better than this time.”

 

“Is this the squad to be the best one ever in the history of NK Osijek?”, the press asked Zekic, whose response was:

 

“We may very well say that it’s as close to perfect as can be, even though the odd player was missing. A good roster is important because the team doesn’t consist of merely 11 players. I think that it was obvious that many individual stars were missing in the past month and a half because if we had had them on the team, things would’ve been different. However, some will leave the team at the end of the season and we will have to look for new faces.”

 

Rupnik Hopeful

 

The Osijek citizen on the bench of Cibalija Davor Rubnik is having a tough time with Cibalia.

“We entered the pitch on the wrong foot and it was a bad first half. We were neither aggressive, nor did we fulfill what was agreed upon before match start. Again, we received a goal during a free kick, where the ball went for the shorthand post, which was the scenario we warned against. I think that the foul before the second score happened outside of the penalty area, but we just weren’t on point during the first half in general. We weren’t coming close to the opposing players. We didn’t hold the ball in the midfield and we ran an incredibly short distance in total as a team, aggression wasn’t there and all our chances got neutralized before we even got the chance to cross the half-way line. When Pericic entered, he managed to stabilize the midfield so that we looked a lot sharper and had our chances against a strong NK Osijek.” Rupnik explained.

 

Furthermore, the question was asked how it felt for him to lead the squad against NK Osijek. He answered the following:

 

“I give everything I’ve got for Cibalija since day one. I am 100% dedicated to her and I hope that we will wrap up the season successfully. I told my players that every match requires us to be on our A game because we have nothing more to lose. There still exists the chance to earn more points than Istra in the end and to make it to the qualifiers. Many chances stayed unutilized and we were unfortunate against Lokomotiva, Rudes and Istra. Sadly, we still have issues with our best players’ injuries, but we will never relent” Rupnik accentuated.