Belgium’s midfielder shared his thoughts on the game with Dundalk and Zenit’s third win in Europe.
AW: “It was a hard game, we knew it would be, they had lots of motivation, we played well until the final third, but we couldn’t find the goal and after that we pushed on, it was difficult to score the first goal, but after that the space started to open up. So after 1-1 it got easier.”
You won after coming back again, how did it happen? Is this Zenit’s style?
– It was our positive play, we never give up, if we let in a goal, we push and give more.
Are Dundalk the best team you’ve played so far?
– Yes they can play well and with this kind of fighting spirit and motivation, they can certainly qualify from the group.
Were you impressed by how Dundalk played and were you expecting a certain style, a lower technical ability, what did you think of them?
– We know kick and rush, but no they played good football and tried to win the game, it wasn’t the Irish style, not just long balls and fighting for every ball, we knew what to expect, we watched the videos before the game.
Were you worried by then when they hit the post and nearly went 2-0 up, with such a small team with no money beating a big team like Zenit?
– When you’re on the pitch it’s not about money, its about motivation and in football anything can happen. You saw in Tel Aviv when we came back from 3-0 down to win 4-3 in 20 minutes.
Were Dundalk more difficult than playing against Ireland for Belgium?
– Its completely different, its not the same competition. Ireland played well against Belgium too.
The next game against Dundalk at home, how do you think this game will go?
– It will be different. We’re at home with our fans, expecting a crazy atmosphere on our turf, we’ll take each game as it comes. We do want to win every game.
