Kelava salutes Dinamo fans after Madrid loss
Thursday, September 15, 2011
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GNK Dinamo Zagreb's Ivan Kelava was moved by the fans' appreciation of his performance in the 1-0 loss to a Real Madrid CF side grateful to come away from Croatia victorious.
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GNK Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper Ivan Kelava acknowledged the home fans' appreciation of his fine display in the 1-0 UEFA Champions League Group D defeat by Real Madrid CF in Zagreb. For midfielder Jerko Leko, there were plenty of encouraging signs for the Croatian title holders despite the result. Madrid goalscorer Ángel Di María said the Stadion Maksimir was "not an easy place to come".
Ivan Kelava, Dinamo goalkeeper
I was impressed by the atmosphere, especially when they where cheering my name, I will never forget that. Too bad for missing two big chances we had, but if someone gave us a 1-0 defeat before the match, we would definitely have taken it. I am very satisfied with my form, but I think the whole team played a great match.
Jerko Leko, Dinamo midfielder
After this match our chances have definitely increased because we played a good match. Our confidence has increased and we will travel to the next match with higher motivation. The atmosphere was brilliant, I enjoyed playing this match. We showed we can play against the world's top players. Most people were expecting that we would lose by more, so this is an excellent result for us despite the loss.
Ángel Di María, Madrid forward
We're delighted with our win; this is not an easy place to come and play and at times they made things quite tricky for us tonight. We know we have only started the season but we hope this will be our year. There is a long way to go yet though.
Karim Benzema, Madrid forward
It was an important win for us; three points away from home is always good. It was difficult at times for us tonight but we got there in the end. I had a lot of chances but unfortunately I didn't score but that's not important now.
