FRANCE 98 – USA-Yugoslavia – I. Kralj: “We lacked motivation tonight”
USA-Yugoslavia – I. Kralj: “We lacked motivation tonight” 26.06.98 00h30 CET Dragan STOJKOVIC, captain (10):
“We won difficultly, as the USA posed us a lot of problems. We were right not to have under-estimated them. Personally, I was hit a lot of times this evening, I’m aching all over. Now the most important thing is to prepare ourselves physically and psychologically for the second round match against HOLLAND. The number of our players who are injured could create problems for us. We’ll have to put our trust in God now to heal them.”
Vladimir JUGOVIC (7):
“It was a tough game, as the USA wanted to go home with some points. For us, the most important thing was to score goals – particularly as we didn’t know what was happening in the GERMANY match The absence of a few players who were out injured went against us; we were missing two attackers tonight. For the moment tonight’s match is all that’s on my mind, I don’t want to think about the next meeting yet. Personally, HOLLAND doesn’t phase me – they’ve drawn twice where we’ve won twice; so what is there to be afraid of?”
Perica OGNJENOVIC (21):
“It was a difficult match. We knew that GERMANY was leading 2-0 against IRAN, and I must admit that this really disrupted us. We didn’t develop a game of our usual standard, but the most important thing is that we’re going into the second round. The game against HOLLAND will be more difficult, and we’ll have to run more than we did today. I believe we haven’t seen the last of HOLLAND. Even though I hurt my eye this evening, I’ll be a hundred percent fit when we play them.”
Ivica KRALJ (1):
“
We lacked motivation tonight, but we managed to win which was all that really mattered. I think we can beat HOLLAND who are among the three best teams in the World Cup. Our advantage, as we proved against GERMANY, is that we play a much better game against tough opponents.”
