Aris and Apollon tied 2-2 in the first matchday of the Cyprus League by Stoiximan
The home team’s coach, Artyom Radzkov, highlighted the positive aspects of his team’s performance in the season opener, while also mentioning the young roster and the work needed to improve it. At the same time, he clearly set the bar for this year’s goals for the “Light Brigade.”
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In contrast, Hernán Lozada commented on his team’s performance, as well as the difficulties they faced during the match. At the same time, he highlighted the performances of Andreou and Konomi in particular.
Here are his comments in detail
Artyom Radzkov
Opening remarks: “I’d like to congratulate the players, my coaching staff, the team’s personnel, and our fans, because it was the first game of the season and it was very emotional for us. I’m satisfied with certain aspects of the game. We were close to a win. We have work to do.”
On the team’s project and what it’s like to work with young players: “I don’t know why it’s difficult to work with these players. We have a fantastic roster and talented players. I’m very excited to be working with these young players who have so much energy. But they need to work hard to improve. It’s definitely very different from last year, when I was working with more experienced players. But I’m excited and happy to be working with this team.”
On Aris’s goals for this year: “It doesn’t matter—the goal is always the same. It depends on us. How quickly the young players will develop. Fifth and sixth place aren’t part of this team’s ambitions. A few years ago, this team won the championship. So the goal can’t be anything else, but it’s not an easy one. After all, quite a few teams start out with that goal. But, to reiterate, our goal is how quickly these players will develop.”
Ernán Lozada
Opening remarks: “First game of the season… I’m feeling a lot of emotions, on the field, in the stands. Calm down. We have 26 games in the regular season and another 10 after that. We haven’t had good experiences in the first few games, especially… with this team. Whether you like it or not, we were playing on the road against a team you never know what to expect from. We earned a point against an unpredictable team with young and inexperienced players. We faced a very strong opponent.”
On Andreou and Konomi: “Angelos had a fantastic game; he was the icing on the cake. Leonidas should be playing for the Cyprus national team.”
On the absences: “We had some players out; I don’t need to name them. We have a lot of young players, and we’re losing the chemistry and the patterns we had last season. We had some good moments, and we had moments when we struggled. For me, it’s a positive result—we’ll build on this. That’s all I have to say. I hope you enjoyed the analysis.”
On the draw: “We all wanted to start with a win. It’s a long road to the championship. It’s not easy to come back from a penalty, but we’re not dwelling on it. We managed to bounce back, exactly as we plan in our training sessions. There were chances we could have lost, and chances we could have won. We made quite a few mistakes, but we also had some good moments. We brought energy and ran a lot. We were playing against a very good team. There’s no point in talking about who was missing—those are just excuses. Of course, we’ll be more competitive when everyone returns. But we also saw players who haven’t had much playing time get a chance to show what they can do and take advantage of their opportunities.”
