DORUS DE VRIES has come out swinging after many criticised the keeper for not saving Zenit’s second goal of the evening.
The 37-year-old was beaten from long range with a thunderous shot but replays show that perhaps he should have done better.
De Vries said: “I don’t know if you are familiar with the term ‘knuckle ball’. Search for it online and you can see what happens with the flight of the ball. Unfortunately, it’s so difficult for a goalkeeper.
“There is no spin on the ball, it just moves a little bit to the right and so initially I moved to the right, and then it moves left at the last moment, and with that pace on the ball you can only hope to get a good hand to it, but it was so quick and it makes it so hard.
“I knew this could happen because they have a few players who can hit the ball like that.
“I am gutted, of course. It was so disappointing, especially when you think about how well we played in the first leg. We created loads of chances, didn’t concede many chances, and a 1-0 win gave us a really good chance to progress but unfortunately that didn’t happen.”
We pick ourselves up and move on.
We have no divine right to win any game and circumstances and the need for correct and quick decisions during a game sometimes prevent it. That’s life!
There are too many so-called supporters who are quick to apportion blame and who appear to have developed a superiority attitude.