FRANCE 98 – Spain-Paraguay – Luis Enrique: “We have to carry on the fight and above all win against Bulgaria”

Spain-Paraguay – Luis Enrique: “We have to carry on the fight and above all win against Bulgaria”

20.06.98 00h24 CET

Andoni ZUBIZARRETA (1), captain and goal keeper

” PARAGUAY is an excellent team but SPAIN did have a lot more opportunities to score. In fact, the match was very balanced with two very talented teams. On Wednesday there is only one thing to do and that is to win the match. I hope that luck will be on our side for the glory of our country.”

ABELARDO (5)

“We didn’t have much luck in this match. The draw could qualify us for the second round but it will depend on the result of the other teams. The fight goes on and we mustn’t lose hope. The match against BULGARIA will be a real final. Sooner or later our luck will look up which we hope will be sooner rather than later. We missed a lot of opportunities but PARAGUAY defended well.”

Fernando HIERRO (6)

“

We have a chance of getting through. We’ll have to do everything to make it.”

Francisco MORIENTES (7)

“Now we’re depending on the other results, even if we win against  BULGARIA. Today was mission impossible due to the very tight defence of PARAGUAY. We had a lot of good opportunities but we were too slow against them. Our defence was fragile. We were very unlucky.”

PIZZI (9)

” We weren’t lucky in this match. We attacked, we fought but we didn’t manage to score. We weren’t really efficient. We can still improve. We absolutely had to win this match but qualifying now doesn’t just depend on us.”

RAUL (10)

“We could still make it to the second round. The team put up a good fight but we ran out of luck. Our three attackers did everything possible to try to score. PARAGUAY were really tight in defence. We have to go on with the same will to win against BULGARIA and hope that PARAGUAY don’t beat NIGERIA. We’re optimistic for the rest of the competition.”

ETXEBERRIA (17)

“We hope that PARAGUAY don’t beat NIGERIA. We have reduced our chances of qualifying. We’ll play our best but it doesn’t just depend on us, To be knocked out would be a real shame.”

 KIKO (19)

“It was very difficult to play against a team using defence tactics. On the strikes there was always an arm or a leg in the way. When luck doesn’t shine the result is a goalless draw. It’ll be difficult and qualification is no longer in our hands. We didn’t have any more luck against NIGERIA and we played a hard match today. Our result had nothing to do with the choice of players. Saying the opposite would only be dishonest. We didn’t really get a lot of chances to score against CHILAVERT, the goalkeeper, and PARAGUAY is a very hard fighting team with an excellent defence.”

 Luis ENRIQUE (21)

“We need three points to qualify

. The Paraguayan defence was very solid. I feel good and quite confident. We have to carry on the fight and above all win against BULGARIA.”