Van Gaal to 'travel with confidence'
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Article summary
The coaches of AZ Alkmaar and Werder Bremen were both looking forward to the concluding leg of their UEFA Cup quarter-final tie after a goalless first match.
Article body
The coaches of AZ Alkmaar and Werder Bremen were both looking forward to the concluding leg of their UEFA Cup quarter-final after a first leg of few chances in the Netherlands failed to produce a goal. "We will travel to Bremen with confidence," said Louis van Gaal, while Thomas Schaaf promised his side would be more attacking on home turf.
Louis van Gaal, AZ coach
I can live with the result but I think if one team deserved to win, it was us. We gave a chance away, a very big one to Clemens Fritz which was saved by Boy Waterman, and created one big one ourselves in the second half through Moussa Dembélé. If they had gone in it would have been 1-1, which would have been worse for us than 0-0. You don't get too much space or many chances against Bremen, who played in their own half for 75 per cent of the match. The players are more disappointed than I am, they felt they could have won it. I see this match as a step forward because we played with so much control against a top Bundesliga side. We didn't give much away and were dominant on the ball, and that is the trademark of a top European team. I'd already predicted that the first leg would be more difficult than the second. I think Werder will play a bit less defensively at home, and a number of AZ players were not in their best form tonight, so they'll be extra motivated to do better in Bremen. We will travel with confidence to Bremen, because we were certainly not inferior to them today.
Thomas Schaaf, Bremen coach
We were better in the first half than the second, when we lost the ball too much and gave them too much possession and allowed them to become dangerous. If we had stayed calmer we would have seen more of the ball. Fritz had a good chance early on, and it would have really settled us if that had gone in. Both teams respected each other and didn't want to give away too much space. We tried to disrupt their approach play and succeeded in the first half. Both teams were aware how important a goal would have been. Now we have to play more attacking at home and try to advance.
