Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Paulo Sousa is full of praise for his side's opponents FC Gyori in their Champions League qualifier on Wednesday. But his focus is entirely on his squad: "I always believe we can win"
In two days the waiting will be over. On Wednesday Maccabi Tel Aviv will play their first official match of the 2013/14 season, the away leg of their round two Champions League qualifier against Hungarian Champions FC Gyori. At a press conference in advance of the club's departure to Hungary, Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Paulo Sousa complimented his team's opponent: "Gyor are in good form, they have more time this season than we've had in official matches with the emphasis on important competitive games like the Hungarian Super Cup. They completely dominated proceedings and won convincingly against Debrecen, the strongest club in Hungary in the last ten years".
Sousa, who spent the past two years coaching in Hungary, had more to say about Gyori in particular and football in Hungary in general: "Football in Hungary has been improving the last three years, they've reached the advanced stages of European competitions. Gyor are a strong and stable side, their coach has been with them three years consecutively and they have a good basic squad to which they add every year at positions that require bolstering". As the official start of the season approaches, Sousa has made an interim evaluation of his squad: "I'm pleased with the attitude of the players, they're full of enthusiasm and prepared to learn and execute what they learn in training. We've seen an enormous improvement since the start of training and as a coach and a person with a positive attitude I am very hopeful as the official season gets underway".
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Sousa states clearly what his goal is for the season but also stresses his desire to advance in European competition: "Our main objective is to continue the process of dominating the local league. You mustn't forget that just last year the team won their first title in ten years. The Champions League is a dream for us, it's important to the club because of the revenue and the recognition and of course for the players it's an opportunity to play at the highest levels and this increases their own worth". He then expressed his opinion of his side's chances at Wednesday's match at Gyori's brand new ETO PARK Stadium: "Scoring goals would be our greatest achievement. When you play two legs, it's very important to score goals in the away leg, and of course to win. I always believe we can win, I never prepare my players to draw or lose".
After a practice this morning that began after the press conference, the Maccabi Tel Aviv squad will head out to the airport for their flight to Vienna and carry on from there to Gior. Tomorrow they'll conduct their first practice in Hungary. The match will start on Wednesday at 9.30pm Israeli time and will be broadcast live on the Israel sports channel ONE. Present at both the away and the home leg of Maccabi's matches against their Hungarian rivals will be club owner Mitch Goldhar, who will arrive in Israel to participate in the Masters tennis tournament of this year's 19th Maccabiah Games which are due to start on Thursday.
