Head coach Rutten: “Mission accomplished”

03 februari 2012 10:00

PSV head coach Fred Rutten was satisfied his team had reached the KNVB Beker semi-finals with a 3-2 win over N.E.C. in Eindhoven. “We are delighted to be through to the next round. We want to win the Cup, but I must admit this was not our most convincing display of the season.”

Head coach Fred Rutten at the post-match conference.

Rutten’s after-match reaction

Rutten said he was delighted his side were though to the final four. “It’s mission accomplished, although this was not our most convincing display of the season. We often made the wrong choices in our final passing.” The PSV head coach was also critical of his team’s defensive display. “We had warned the players that N.E.C. quickly switched from defence to attack. And they threatened our goal because we made defensive slips.” Georginio Wijnaldum was forced off with a head injury. Rutten: “As for Georginio, we don’t know. We will wait until the morning to see. He is doubtful for Sunday’s clash at Heracles Almelo”, concluded Rutten.

Pastoor´s after-match reaction

“I have mixed feelings after the defeat. We haven’t been able to book a place in the semi-finals. Having said that, I am proud of my team’s performance”, said N.E.C. manager Alex Pastoor. “We’ve given the league leaders a tough time and put in a commanding first-half display in particular. When we thought we were in control, PSV scored two goals. We attempted to continue in the same vein after the break, but we failed to do so. As PSV could not kill off the game, we still had a chance to level the score. But in the end we didn’t create enough chances”, said Pastoor at the post-match conference.