Penev points to Bulgaria plan
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Article summary
Luboslav Penev was pleased that his tactical plan paid off as Bulgaria won 2-1 with a late goal in Azerbaijan, Berti Vogts conceding that his team tired near the end.
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Article body
• A late Ventsislav Hristov goal gives Bulgaria victory and Ludoslav Penev points to their tactical plan
• "I think that we played better than Azerbaijan," Penev says after the Group H opener
• Home coach Berti Vogts says: "For 70 minutes we could live with the Bulgarians; after that we couldn't"
Luboslav Penev, Bulgaria coach
I knew how Azerbaijan play football. Our goal during the match was to create as many chances to score as possible but it didn't mean that we would score them all.
I saw two previous Azerbaijan matches. There is a difference between this match and their match versus Russia. We prepared for one week for this match. We had a lot of tactical sessions. We knew that we were expecting a hard game.
I think that we played better than Azerbaijan. These three points are very important. But I would still have been happy with one point, because it's still a point.
Berti Vogts, Azerbaijan coach
For 70 minutes we could live with the Bulgarians; after that we couldn't. We had problems in our defence, where we had no experienced players.
We needed more friendly matches. It is hard for me to improve the players' physical shape in the short time they are with me. After we scored the goal, I saw that some players were having problems with their physical condition and that is why I changed some defenders. Our loss wasn't because of a lack of forwards. We will work on our mistakes in order to make everything better for future games.