This is a big interview with Radomir Antić after the win against Romania in the Madrid-based paper AS. I got it today and translated the whole thing. There might be some bad translations, but I did my best.
Enjoy.
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The victory over Romania in Constanţa has put Serbia into the best position to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup..
-"Yes, this win confirmed that we're on the right path and we were certainly going for it. Everything is going according to plan, but the most important thing is to get people excited about the serbian national team again."
-"My initial goal when I took over was to get the people to re-identify themselves with their national team, colors and the best formula to do this was build a team with character. The atmosphere after this win was euphoric. I think this is exactly what we need considering how much serbian football has suffered in the past couple of years."
-"We're happy, almost euphoric and very inspired after getting this result. It so much more than a good result, there's nothing better than making people happy. People see things in a different way now, football and sports in general has always been important to us serbs that we're now recieving so much praise in our homeland.."
Tell us a little about this serbian team that has won four out of five matches so far, scoring 12 goals and conceding 5 while only losing to France..
-"We didn't have to lose that game against France either and I really mean it. We were missing several keyplayers due to injury rather than the french being superior."
-"There's a mixture between veterans like Vidić, the great captain Stanković and Dragutinović, but there's also plenty of young players around; Subotić is one of those, he reminds me of Fernando Hierro, he's only 20 years old, grew up in the United States and he can play as a central midfielder. Kačar is another young player, he plays for Hertha and has been injured for a while, but will be back to show his quality soon. The same goes for Ivan Obradović, a left-back who can score goals, just like he did in Austria. He likes to come forward on his flank and provide support offensively. Then there's Krasić, Pantelić.. This is a good team who's balanced on the same time and we're playing for our fans. They always want to attack, we have a lot of movement without the ball, the players already understand the strategy of our game."
It seems like you're trying to get them to play like Spain..
-"Yes. My idea is that Serbia will play similar to La Selección, but with each and every players own characteristics, they're not the same as Spains. My philosophy has always been that."
All of Antićs teams have been trying to play offensive football..
-"Spain found their true style against Denmark in the qualifying campaign to EURO 2008. They played with all the small players and they've continued with this formula. Spains success is supported in the statistics, this is a team that has the biggest amount of passes, who defends very well and rarely concedes any goals. 30 games without a loss shows how good they actually are."
-"Our goal has always been to have more possession. We managed to complete 430 passes in one of our games and that isn't far away from Spains 530 against Sweden in the European Championship, but it's still very good. These things tells you a little about what we want to achieve and the mentality we've chosen. I've never been a fan of using systems, but instead I instill concepts. The most important thing is to know how to behave when you've got the ball and when you're without it. You could say that we almost play a 4-2-4 formation, but the players do it with authority. I've told them that if we qualify for the World Cup, that we could go even further into the tournament."
Would you take on Spain without fear at this moment?
-"Yes. I'd like to play against Spain, this is a team that everyone wants to play and be able to beat considering they have 30 games wtihout a loss."
Are you capable of doing it?
-"Why not? We're prepared for everything. I don't take on any game thinking that I'm inferior to the opposition and that's what I'm trying to instill into my players. We've got to put up higher goals. We have already won two games away from home and managed to score a total of six goals in those. This is why people are starting to return to the stadiums. Our greatest victory would be to fill Marakana again."
-"When Serbia played against Poland in Marakana less than 1,5 years ago there were more poles than serbs in the stadium. That tells you the difference between then and now."
-"We're on the right way, for instance, we had offers to play in Oman and Azerbaijan and there was a lot of money involved, but we preferred to play against Sweden who's a strong opponent. These kind of games will make us grow."
It's is pretty well known that Iniesta is your favourite player, would you like to have a player of his characteristics?
-"No, not really. I don't sit down and complain about something that I'm missing. I ask the players to give their maximum and they offer me their full potential that way. That's what they're doing as well. The atmosphere is incredible. The players are really keen on playing together. I know Iniesta well from my time at Barcelona, he was a youth player back then, the same goes for Xavi who got more playing time in centre of the field. Puyol was moved to CB. I don't want any medals for introducing them to the team. I wanted Bojan to play for Serbia, but he decided to play for Spain and I congratulated him while wishing him good luck."
-"I think I've come at the right time because I'm enjoying doing what I really like and that is being the coach of the serbian national team. To see people following and enjoying the national team is priceless."
Enjoy.
The victory over Romania in Constanţa has put Serbia into the best position to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup..
-"Yes, this win confirmed that we're on the right path and we were certainly going for it. Everything is going according to plan, but the most important thing is to get people excited about the serbian national team again."
-"My initial goal when I took over was to get the people to re-identify themselves with their national team, colors and the best formula to do this was build a team with character. The atmosphere after this win was euphoric. I think this is exactly what we need considering how much serbian football has suffered in the past couple of years."
-"We're happy, almost euphoric and very inspired after getting this result. It so much more than a good result, there's nothing better than making people happy. People see things in a different way now, football and sports in general has always been important to us serbs that we're now recieving so much praise in our homeland.."
Tell us a little about this serbian team that has won four out of five matches so far, scoring 12 goals and conceding 5 while only losing to France..
-"We didn't have to lose that game against France either and I really mean it. We were missing several keyplayers due to injury rather than the french being superior."
-"There's a mixture between veterans like Vidić, the great captain Stanković and Dragutinović, but there's also plenty of young players around; Subotić is one of those, he reminds me of Fernando Hierro, he's only 20 years old, grew up in the United States and he can play as a central midfielder. Kačar is another young player, he plays for Hertha and has been injured for a while, but will be back to show his quality soon. The same goes for Ivan Obradović, a left-back who can score goals, just like he did in Austria. He likes to come forward on his flank and provide support offensively. Then there's Krasić, Pantelić.. This is a good team who's balanced on the same time and we're playing for our fans. They always want to attack, we have a lot of movement without the ball, the players already understand the strategy of our game."
It seems like you're trying to get them to play like Spain..
-"Yes. My idea is that Serbia will play similar to La Selección, but with each and every players own characteristics, they're not the same as Spains. My philosophy has always been that."
All of Antićs teams have been trying to play offensive football..
-"Spain found their true style against Denmark in the qualifying campaign to EURO 2008. They played with all the small players and they've continued with this formula. Spains success is supported in the statistics, this is a team that has the biggest amount of passes, who defends very well and rarely concedes any goals. 30 games without a loss shows how good they actually are."
-"Our goal has always been to have more possession. We managed to complete 430 passes in one of our games and that isn't far away from Spains 530 against Sweden in the European Championship, but it's still very good. These things tells you a little about what we want to achieve and the mentality we've chosen. I've never been a fan of using systems, but instead I instill concepts. The most important thing is to know how to behave when you've got the ball and when you're without it. You could say that we almost play a 4-2-4 formation, but the players do it with authority. I've told them that if we qualify for the World Cup, that we could go even further into the tournament."
Would you take on Spain without fear at this moment?
-"Yes. I'd like to play against Spain, this is a team that everyone wants to play and be able to beat considering they have 30 games wtihout a loss."
Are you capable of doing it?
-"Why not? We're prepared for everything. I don't take on any game thinking that I'm inferior to the opposition and that's what I'm trying to instill into my players. We've got to put up higher goals. We have already won two games away from home and managed to score a total of six goals in those. This is why people are starting to return to the stadiums. Our greatest victory would be to fill Marakana again."
-"When Serbia played against Poland in Marakana less than 1,5 years ago there were more poles than serbs in the stadium. That tells you the difference between then and now."
-"We're on the right way, for instance, we had offers to play in Oman and Azerbaijan and there was a lot of money involved, but we preferred to play against Sweden who's a strong opponent. These kind of games will make us grow."
It's is pretty well known that Iniesta is your favourite player, would you like to have a player of his characteristics?
-"No, not really. I don't sit down and complain about something that I'm missing. I ask the players to give their maximum and they offer me their full potential that way. That's what they're doing as well. The atmosphere is incredible. The players are really keen on playing together. I know Iniesta well from my time at Barcelona, he was a youth player back then, the same goes for Xavi who got more playing time in centre of the field. Puyol was moved to CB. I don't want any medals for introducing them to the team. I wanted Bojan to play for Serbia, but he decided to play for Spain and I congratulated him while wishing him good luck."
-"I think I've come at the right time because I'm enjoying doing what I really like and that is being the coach of the serbian national team. To see people following and enjoying the national team is priceless."
roud:
