NEC responds to the departure of Kodai Sano
1 min readAfter Tuesday evening’s 0-0 draw by NEC in Athens against Olympiakos, the men from Nijmegen can still openly dream of participation in the UEFA Champions League. If they win next week in De Goffert, Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie will go to the play-offs of the billion-euro competition in which Union Saint-Gilloise or FK Bodø/Glimt will face them.
Afterwards, NEC captain Tjaronn Chery was satisfied with the result. Nevertheless, Chery believes that a goal should still have been possible.
''It was a good match, but I think we should have taken more of our chances. I was often free on the right side and I think we didn't make good use of that. With the intent we showed, you could see that Olympiakos also found it difficult. Now we have to finish it at home'', says the captain to the cameras of Ziggo Sport.
A few hours before the kickoff, it was clear that the Nijmegen side could not call on midfielder Kodai Sano. This has everything to do with the fact that Sano is going to sign a contract with PSV and will be medically checked on Wednesday.
Chery snaps up the Japanese and is giving the midfielder a great transfer. ''In the end, we knew there was a lot of interest in Sano and that PSV was very close to an agreement. I completely understand that kid. He will undergo a medical examination tomorrow and then he doesn't want to take the risk of getting injured, which everyone understands. Monteiro replaced him and he played brilliantly,'' said the captain.
Comments11
Kijk, ik gun Sano z'n transfer. Maar ik hoop dat NEC niet te veel op plannen leunt zonder hem. Als Monteiro die vorm blijft houden, is het play-offs gevaarlijk voor elke tegenstander.
"Nu moeten we het thuis afmaken" klopt, maar dan moet NEC ook echt de rechterkant momenten durven te vertalen naar kansen die erin gaan. Olympiakos had het lastig, maar 0-0 betekent dat je net te vaak net niet was 🤡
Monteiro replacing Sano "en hij speelde uitstekend" is a big statement. If NEC can maintain that midfield quality without Sano, they might not even miss a beat in the play-offs. Meanwhile for us PSV fans, good luck Sano, hope he hits the ground running 🥇⚽
I actually like that Chery admits they wasted the right side. That means NEC knows exactly what to adjust, so playoffs suddenly feel real. If they keep that intent from Greece, De Goffert can be buzzing 🚀
Dat PSV-verhaal verklaart alles. Woensdag medisch en dan geen risico nemen, cap. Wel benieuwd hoe groot het gat was op het midden als Sano eruit viel. Monteiro pakte het op, maar tbh Chery zegt gewoon dat er kansen genoeg waren.
"Nu moeten we het thuis afmaken" 100 percent. But imho NEC need to stop hesitating in the final third, those chances have to become goals. Still, seeing Sano walk into a PSV medical is peak football business 😂
Tjaronn Chery blijft ook echt hangen op dat doelpunt, maar eerlijk is eerlijk: als je vaak vrij stond aan rechts en je pakt 0-0, dan moet je volgende week scherp zijn. PSV of niet, De Goffert moet gewoon de klus klaren 👀
Kodai Sano gone to PSV and medically checked... cant blame him tbh, no one wants injury before a move. But the timing hurts NEC, Monteiro having to replace him "and playing excellent" sounds like a short-term patch, not a long-term fix.
Bruggetje naar PSV dus, begrijpelijk dat Kodai Sano vandaag niet kan spelen. Maar Monteiro die "uitstekend" speelde, nice voor NEC... toch jammer dat we hem niet aan de tand konden voelen in Athene 🔥
That line about Chery standing free on the right is interesting. If NEC can keep creating those channels, they will get at least one goal next week. But if Monteiro was truly the difference, PSV will watch that closely.
Chery is right though, 0-0 is fine but he's basically saying it could have been 1-0. Also lol, Olympiakos looked shaky once NEC attacked with width, so yeah De Goffert is a must-win.