At a post-match press conference, the coaches commented on the Polish Cup match.
Coach Szymon Grabowski:
– First of all, big congratulations and appreciation to the coach and the home team. Today the better team won, we have a well-deserved victory of the hosts and we are left to accept it. On my behalf, I want to apologize very much to the fans and those who came here first of all, but also to those who kept their fingers crossed for us in front of the TV, because this was the weakest performance of Lechia under my command, so to speak. Shameful defeat, shameful field behavior that did not befit an Ekstraklasa team, although we warned my players, who were probably in such a situation for the first time, and this character of these cup matches today was evident. We didn’t bear the burden, I think, because apparently for us it was a burden. As I said, an embarrassing defeat, which we must forget as soon as possible, draw conclusions and on Friday we must see a different, definitely better Lechia Gdańsk team.
Coach of Pogoń Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Marcin Sasal:
– First of all, we need to congratulate the boys and the team; they showed real character. Even though the match wasn’t going well, because we missed a penalty—Odi didn’t score—we didn’t make a big drama out of it or try to put him down in the locker room. We believe in this striker. He might be going through a bit of a rough patch, but he will definitely break through. We conceded a goal in a somewhat bizarre or unfortunate way because Lechia’s goalkeeper deflected the ball for a corner, and instead of that corner which could have been checked by VAR. From that play, we conceded a goal. In my opinion, that’s where Lechia’s game ended, because from that moment on, they didn’t try to play out from the back; they were just looking for long balls. I think we took control, and it was just a matter of whether we’d have a bit of luck and score the goal to equalize. At the end of the match, we switched Nojsze to play with two forwards, while Kuba Niewiadomski took his spot in defense. We took a risk, and it paid off—we scored the goal. In extra time, we looked physically very good, and I’m happy about that, though I am a bit concerned about the next league match. But I think we’ll recover calmly. We’re well-prepared for this season. And we got lucky, because penalties are always a lottery. I even thought to myself that even if we were to be eliminated because someone missed a penalty or something happened, it would serve as extra motivation for us. For some of these boys, this was their first time playing against Ekstraklasa players. I think just like we were happy when we drew Lechia, a top Ekstraklasa team, now we also want our adventure in the Cup to continue. We’ll be getting ready, watching the draw in the locker room, and waiting for a good opponent because it’s already a very serious round. I believe this is the biggest achievement in the club’s history so far when it comes to our accomplishments.
Listen to the full conference below:
