© EuroFootball.com
After the Baltic Football League match ended with a zero draw, the head coach of Liepaja's "Metalurgs", Benjamin Zelkevicius, was in a great mood and stated that they do not spare points for "Žalgiris" - it's better to take them away from another group team, Talinn's "Levadia".
"It was very strange to play against 'Žalgiris', but I managed to hold on well for a half - I sat calmly, only then got up from my seat," joked the most famous Lithuanian coach at the press conference. "It was a tough match because we played on an unusual field. Although the result is unsatisfactory, it is important that both teams are well. I wish both us and 'Žalgiris' to advance from the group."
Speaking about the match, B. Zelkevicius highlighted the excellent performance of Mindaugas Kalonas.
"Kalonas is an extraordinary guy," the coach said a bit ironically. "But it wouldn't be interesting for me with someone simple. We communicate in our own way, but we haven't clashed yet. Sometimes things happen, but he is very promising, he has huge potential."
After publicly criticizing Lithuanians Darius Miceika and Tomas Tamosauskas after the first BFL match against Talinn's "Levadia" - the latter even lost his place in the national team lineup against the French - this time the "Metalurgs" coach refrained from harsh comments.
"Tamosauskas and Miceika can play better," the coach said hesitantly. "Miceika's form is poor now, so I wanted to 'punish' him by putting him on the bench and making him think. And Tamosauskas lacks specific things in his game - effective passes or goals."
"Miceika commits too many fouls and disputes with referees," said B. Zelkevicius. "Last year it cost us a lot."
The Latvian team's coach was not satisfied with the team's performance in the second half, when "Metalurgs" had a quantitative advantage.
"The players psychologically cannot take advantage of the numerical superiority - it's not the first match where we fail to exploit that," said B. Zelkevicius.
Meanwhile, "Metalurgs" defender Vadimas Petrenka, who only played in the first half, said at the press conference that his team deserved the win more: "We had more opportunities, we needed to capitalize on them."
