Vladimir Weiss happiest coach at World Cup
Weiss is happiest coach at WC
Posted: 2010-06-25 08:54
Slovakia coach Vladimir Weiss has every reason to be the happiest coach at the World Cup after knocking Italy out of the competition yesterday.
He describes the day as being 'fantastic' and second only in importance to the day his wife gave birth to his son.
Trying to hold back his emotions with a reserved look, he conceded that getting Slovakia to the knockout stages in their first appearance at a World Cup as an independent nation was an enormous achievement, one that was not expected by many.
"This is a fantastic day for us (Slovaks) as it goes to show that we prepared well coming into this match," says Weiss whose team will now take on the winners of Group E in the last 16.
"I want to say thanks to the people who have followed us to Africa and today I want to say that I am proud of my team. Today we played at the highest level and still managed to get the job done. Coming into this game the expectations were high against us as we were up against the winners of the last World Cup. But in the end we were the better team and won.
"This is a victory that is important for me as a coach, for the players and for the nation. It is because of the players' commitment that we have been able to get this result today.
"I know my team and its players and so I had to do this well. We lost to Paraguay whom I always predicted to the favourites to win this group as all Latin American countries are playing well in Africa.
"The three days that I had to prepare my team for the game against Italy were easy for me because all that I was looking for was the right starting 11. We can celebrate today knowing that everyone in Slovakia is also celebrating. To my wife I want to say I love her," Weiss said in conclusion.
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