12.11.2007, 04:38
Krim's first half nightmare

Zvenigorod were leading by 15 after 30 minutes and it was only due to the Slovenian reserves to come back to a five-goal defeat.

Krim's first half nightmare

Krim Mercator are getting far from the next phase of the Champions League. The Slovenians only have two points after the third round match in Russia against Zvezda. In fact, their performance was even more frightening this weekend.

Even though the Slovenian champions have big injury problems, nobody expected such a poor performance in Russia. After a quick start and taking a 4:1 lead, everything changed. Evgeniy Trefilov's team were scoring easily and made it difficult for Krim.

The mixture of young and experienced players did not work out this time. Zvezda Zvenigorod were extending their lead every minute and they already had 17 goal-advantage at a point. They went to half time with 15 goals, which never happened before to Krim in a European Cup game before.

After the break Krim's coach Bojan Cotar sent only young players back to court and their line-up was Hrnjic – Zrnec, Lekic, Varle, Irman, Argent and Pandzic.

It was something really new for Krim that always relied on famous Slovenian and international players. The young players were really good. With an aggressive defence and some less concentration on the Zvezda side, they scored from counter attacks and melted the gap to only 5 goals at the end of the 60 minutes.

What’s happened?

"What’s happened is an absolute shame for us. I don’t know what we were doing. I’m disappointed, sad and angry after this," said Manuela Hrnjic at the end of the match.

Coach Bojan Cotar could hardly speak as he could not have imagined all this even in his worst nightmare.

"I am very disappointed with our first half. After a great start something happened that I can not understand. They were only standing there and watching the Russians. The truth is that not only Zvezda but any other team could take advantage of that kind of playing."

After three rounds Krim are in a desperate situation with only 2 points. If Krim cannot win in Nürnberg, their Champions League season might end. This would be a catastrophe for the two-time European Champions.

TEXT: Maja Mastnak, Sportal