FRANCE 98 – Spain-Bulgaria – J. Clemente: “This victory tastes bitter because we're going home”

Javier CLEMENTE

“This victory tastes bitter because we’re going home. It’s always painful leaving, especially with a goal feast like we saw tonight, but we have to accept the PARAGUAY victory. Things don’t always happen the way you want them to. Our team fought well, and played well during the three matches. We can tell our fans that we did all we could to qualify. If it didn’t work, it can be put down to bad luck alone, and not because of a lack of desire. But NIGERIA and PARAGUAY have worked very hard as well, and I congratulate them on qualifying for the second round. We were hoping for a Nigerian victory this evening, but ifs and buts are of little use. In fact, it all comes down to mathematics: at the end of the day, we have only four points, while our opponents have five and six.”