Despite Maccabi's exit last night from the Europa league in the round of 32, head coach Paulo Sousa says his team's cup is half full: "In the group stage, we were excellent"
"First of all I would like to congratulate (head coach) Murat Yakin and Basel and wish them continued success this season", Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Paulo Sousa said at the end of the match Thursday night that saw his team exit Europe after a 3-0 loss to Swiss champions FC Basel. "Basel were stronger than us tonight and just as we were beginning to see some light in the second half they scored their second goal and settled the tie. I'm very proud of our European accomplishments this season. It was a positive campaign and in the group stage we were excellent".
On Sunday the club will return to league duties and Sousa had a word to say about the possible effects of Thursday night's match on their performance in the forthcoming match against Hapoel Ra'anana: "Everything has an effect. When you lose it always influences you, as well as the absence of players like (striker Barak) Itzhaki. Now we'll focus on the league, we'll have to concentrate on solutions in the hope of starting another run of league victories. What we want every season is first of all to win the league championship".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBic9M0uqfc&feature=c4-overview&list=UU-oWQqnf8B8a_TsmVi0mTUg
Maccabi Tel Aviv sports director Jordy Cruyff summed up tonight's match, and the team's whole European campaign, from his point of view: "The game, well, ok, it's football. I think that Basel showed it's a team with a certain level, they've shown that today. I think we had a few moments that if we had been a little bit lucky we could have even sprung a surprise. But I'm at peace. I'm very proud of Maccabi Tel Aviv's European situation this year. We had some good results, some good games. Of course there are things we hope to improve as a club, and to have the players learn, but I really think the staff and the players have done a very good job this year and I can only say good things about them. I think the worst thing after a game that you lost, especially if you're a player or a coach and are directly involved, is to have a bad feeling but I'm a bit older now and I also learned that when you look back you have to look back when you're calm and I do think we've had very nice games this year in Europe, we've played some good football and for us this is stimulation and motivation to try to keep improving, to try to be better every year and we hope that one day we can go even a step further".
Team striker Rade Prica expressed his disappointment at being out of the competition: "Of course we're very disappointed to be out. We knew it was going to be a tough game but we did our best. Sometimes the result goes with you, sometimes not. Today we met a really strong opponent. It was a difficult game". Asked if he had regrets about not having scored in the first leg in Israel, Prica added: "You can always have regrets. I think a result of 0-0 is not a bad result against a team like Basel. But today when we were 1-0 down we had a fantastic opportunity to score 1-1. In these kinds of games you don't get three or four chances, you have to score at the chance that you get. Today we didn't".
Team midfielder Eran Zahavi: "Of course we came here dreaming about getting a good result and advancing to the next stage, but Basel are a better side than us at the moment and I'm very proud of my teammates and the club for our European campaign. Now we'll focus on the league and that's what's really important, that's our main objective this season and we have great hopes of achieving it. Football is always in flux and if we had scored the goal when we had the chance we might have looked stronger in the match and got through, but right after that attack we conceded. Let's be realistic, Basel were better, they deserved to go through and the fact that we didn't manage to score, well that can only mean we weren't good enough. The better team got to the next stage today and we'll try to improve. Let's put it this way. If we're disappointed we didn't get past a team like Basel it can only mean that Maccabi are making great strides and let's hope we'll carry on that way".
Team winger Tal Ben Haim had this to say about the match: "Basel are a far better team than we are. We went into these two matches as the underdog. There's nothing really to say about Basel, I think everyone could see today what a good team they are. What they've done in the last two months, and in general, in their Champions League campaign, that speaks for itself. No point in dwelling on all that, it's behind us, our thoughts now are on the league, which remains our main objective now and that's that. We have a match on Sunday to prepare for. Now we have to get back on our feet by Sunday, to be ready for the match and win".
