After losing to Finland on “Dinamo Arena” in Tbilisi, Temur Ketsbaia, head coach of the Georgian national team, stated at the press conference that his players were not physically ready to hold two games in a row.
Temur Ketsbaia: “It is a pity that we played unsuccessfully in the last home match of this qualifying round. If we did not deserve victory, we did not deserve loss as well. Two matches in a row turned out too much for us. One match is left in Spain and we will do everything to achieve a positive result”.
- Besides physical preparation, what did the national team lack against Finland?
- We lack what is very important in today’s football. We need more individual football players. We have this problem. Some play for their clubs, some sits on the bench and some – on the tribune. When you are called up for the national team you must do everything. Nowadays football is dynamic. If you do not run, do not move, it is very tough to play at high level.
- Jano Ananidze did not look physically ready against France and Finland…
- I agree with you. You expect something from such players like Jano, Okriashvili, Targamadze. But Jano held two matches and unfortunately, he could not even make a dangerous moment.
- What can you say about the referee of the match?
- He judged our lost match to Latvia two years ago. We feared this referee. We were going to apply to UEFA and to change the referee. I have problems with this referee for a long time. When I was playing, we were becoming champions of Cyprus and he ruined the match. I have lived in that country and done so much for it. I deserved that he judged 50/50 at least. Nobody awards such penalty home.
- If we take the Georgian and the Finnish Championship, how fairly places were distributed in the qualifying group?
- We demand much from football. The difference is that what we want and what we do. I think there is not a player from the local championship in the Finnish national team. We are used to good football which was 30 years ago. I have said many times that something must be done. When this pleada goes, who will come? Those boys who played in Italy, Germany, Holland, Scotland have gone and somebody had to replace them. The French national team is 2-3 times stronger than “Tottenham”. The Finnish national team is much stronger than “Rapid”. If we do not achieve good result at European tournaments how can we achieve in the national team? We have grown up with world level football players. They have gone and we played at the level. If nothing is done in the future, it will be very tough. We think we must play 11/11 and win. People invest millions and milliards in football and cannot achieve anything. We do not do anything and demand much.
- Was it the mistake of head coach or football players that the national team could not take the third place in the group?
- Our plan was to do everything to prepare young football players for the next qualifying round. We wanted to take the third place in the group. But we did not say we would take the third place for sure. We wanted to prepare the team to take the third place in the next qualifying round of European Championship. Perhaps, I also made some mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. I do not think we could not take the first, second or third place in the group because of my mistake. When I came, this team was in the sixth place in the group. We took the 5th place in the previous qualifying round. Now we took the 4th place. Hopefully, we will take the third place in the upcoming qualifying round.
- Was the team tactically not ready or was it under psychological pressure?
- Physical preparation is important. When you play France and cannot rehab, it is tough to hold the second match. We wanted to win over Finland and had a good moment when the score was 0:0 but could not use it.
- Why was not Khizanishvili on the list?
- Khizanishvili did not get on the bus. He was not in lineup and perhaps, he was offended and did not get on the bus.
Lasha Tabagari
