FRANCE 98 – Yougoslavie-Iran – Milosevic: “What we can learn from this match, is that there are no weak teams”

Yougoslavie-Iran – Milosevic: “What we can learn from this match, is that there are no weak teams”

14.06.98 23h18 CET

Dejan SAVICEVIC (8)

“What do you want me to tell you? I’ve two points to make: the victory and the three points from the victory. In the game, it is only the result that counts and I was very annoyed we couldn’t manage to score. We could also see all our weaknesses, which will have to be ironed out for the match against GERMANY and we’ll have to play better. As far as I’m concerned, I knew well before the match that I wouldn’t be able to play.”

Savo MILOSEVIC (17)

“It was very difficult because IRAN were playing with eight in defence and they were very quick on the counter-attack. We played slowly as the surface was very difficult. What’s important is to have won the first match, but also the future. What we can learn from this match, is that there are no weak teams. We still have a lot of work to do.”

Vladimir JUGOVIC (7)

“We achieved our objective: a win. Our first half wasn’t that great, but we played well in the second. The Iranian players surprised us in playing well. It wasn’t an easy victory, we’ll try to correct our mistakes for the next match.”

Sinisa MIHAJLOVIC (11)

“The most important thing for us is to have won this match and to prepare for the one against GERMANY. It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t one of our better matches for sure. We kept the ball for too long without going forward and made too many short passes. I’m delighted to have scored from the free kick even if I do often score like this. I couldn’t strike very hard as I was suffering a bit from my leg.”

Dejan STANKOVIC (20)

“

Our intention before the match was to win, so it was important to make the first step. The Iranian players somewhat surprised us. We’ll now be more at ease for the rest of the competition.”

Darko KOVASEVIC (22)

“We won our first very difficult match. We could see that IRAN were a difficult team to handle. They defended hands and nails and posed us a lot of problems on the counter-attack.”

Dragan STOJKOVIC (10)

“One goal to nil is fine, the first match is always more important than the others. Psychologically, this victory came at the right time. We weren’t any under special pressure in this match, but it’s quite clear our game wasn’t up to the usual standard. We had hoped to score in the first half and the fact that this didn’t happen was a bit worrying. IRAN played a defensive game, they had seven in defence and we had a lot of problems in breaking down the wall they’d built up in front of their goal. That’s how we found out that all the matches are going to be difficult and over-all, there’s no real favourite. I felt very weak physically, I had heavy legs. It’s for the good of the team that I was substituted. In the end, new blood was very beneficial, and also Perica OGNJENOVIC (21), coming on in the second half was crucial. He’s a quick forward, the kind of player who can tip the balance at all times.”