Sep 08 - Wood Proud Despite "Crazy" Four Minutes
By Mark Viales
Gibraltar head coach Jeff Wood was proud of his players despite a ‘crazy’ four minutes where his side conceded three goals in Tuesday’s 4-1 World Cup Qualifier defeat to Greece at the Estadio Algarve in Faro, Portugal.
Wood felt his side were close to achieving something special and will take a lot of positives from the match while also placing the three goal four-minute collapse under the magnifying glass.
“We had an excellent 90 minutes and a crazy three minutes. I think to be fair we were quite comfortable and gave a great account of ourselves until the 44th minute,” he said. “We had chances and put them under pressure. That was the game plan we wanted to press high and try and peg them back. I would have been disappointed going in at halftime losing 2-1, but to go in at 4-1 means that we have to look closely what happened in those four minutes.”
Wood praised the youngsters who stepped up to the mark on the night with James Coombes, Anthony Hernandez, Jamie Bosio and Michael Yome showcasing impressive performances.
“They all did what was ask of them and they had problems with our pace up front and it was magnificent what we did as a team,”he said. “It was all about national pride and to do this for the people back in Gibraltar. Apart from those four minutes we matched them in everything they did.”
Liam Walker marked his name in history with Gibraltar’s first World Cup goal in spectacular fashion, curling into the roof of the net and Wood also complimented the achievement.
“It was a great goal by Liam. We spoke before privately with players before the game and we believed that we could get something from the game having watched their previous fixtures. I felt we were capable to getting a result. We can compete with some of the major nations.”
GREECE
Greece head coach Michael Skibbe complimented Gibraltar’s efforts in the match and praised the high quality of Walker’s wonder strike, but knew that his side would run out victorious in the end.
“They did excellently and with more experience they will do better, but not hopefully in the rematch against us,” he said. “Gibraltar’s goal was fantastic and not a lucky one either. I didn't have any problem with this goal. I think they have some interesting players in their team, some fast players. We had a few moments where we were a little lucky. But during the 90 minutes we showed that we are a better side than Gibraltar.”
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