First European trophy just the start for Lucescu

FC Shakhtar Donetsk coach Mircea Lucescu believes winning the UEFA Cup is just the start for his side after they collected their first European trophy with a 2-1 victory against Werder Bremen at the Sükrü Saraçoglu Stadium in Istanbul on Wednesday.

'Fantastic'
Jadson scored the winning goal seven minutes into extra time after Luiz Adriano and Naldo had swapped first-half strikes to leave the Romanian coach full of hope for the future. "This first trophy is fantastic," he said. "There is a great feeling of satisfaction and I am extremely happy. But we want other things. We want to do something in the Champions League. This will give us the confidence to reach the quarter-finals or the semi-finals of the Champions League.

'Continue to build'
"My aim is to continue to build this team, to make it better than it is today," he continued. "I have this passion and want to give my players this conviction. The Champions League will be the aim for eastern European countries. We have played at a high level. Until now we have had a problem with the level of our championship. Now I think eastern European countries have the chance to win the Champions League and we will try to do it."

Lucescu delight
Lucescu was also delighted for the five Brazilians in his side who had such an influence on the outcome, suggesting that the future for Willian, Fernandinho and Ilsinho as well as goalscorers Adriano and Jadson is bright. "I am very happy for my Brazilian players," he said. "Now people will know them and maybe [Brazil coach] Dunga will as well. My philosophy is to build teams, to educate players, to try to bring through young players. It's a big passion and I will do it for as long as I can."

Schaaf disappointment
Lucescu's opposite number Thomas Schaaf, was also looking to the future, calling on his Bremen side to put this defeat behind them in time to finish the season on a high with victory in the German Cup final against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. "When you have lost everyone is very disappointed but the season is not over yet," he said. "We still have games ahead, an important one [away to Bundesliga leaders VfL Wolfsburg] on Saturday and then the German Cup final in Berlin. We have to build on this experience and get the team going again. Berlin will be a great event and we have to do ourselves justice. We are disappointed and angry, but starting tomorrow the situation will be different again. We have to put this behind us."

'Learn from this'
While Lucescu believed Shakhtar's victory was "a fair reflection of what you saw on the pitch", Schaaf felt Bremen had not performed to their usual standards. "We weren't able to attack as much as usual," he said. "We knew we couldn't give them space because they are very fast, so we tried to play tight and turn on the break, but it didn't work that way. We weren't able to attack and use the space that well. Our ball control was not as good as usual, particularly in midfield, and we weren't able to target the opposition goal. We had some chances, but didn't make the most of them. We will have to learn from that in the future."