SOCCER: Shelbourne manager Pat Fenlon pointed out he was proud of his players following Wednesday night's excellent 0-0 draw with Deportivo La Coruna and in gauging the reaction from their Spanish opponents, he was not alone in his commendations.
His Deportivo counterpart Javier Irureta, who has transformed the club into one of the top sides in Champions League fare since taking over in 1998, was quick to point out that his side are taking nothing for granted when they host Shelbourne at the Riazor stadium on Tuesday week.
He considered the second leg "a difficult assignment" before pointing out that his team would be in better physical shape.
"In Riazor we're always stronger, so there's reason to be optimistic. The match was keenly contested but we expected that as Shelbourne always fight a lot and during most duels were worse off, as was the case with Molina and Duscher.
"We had a lot of possession and did what was reasonably expected with our physical shape. Overall it was a balanced match, although the rain made it difficult for both teams."
Caesar Martin, who along with Portuguese international Jorge Andrade formed a resolute partnership in the middle of the defence, was content with the result. The Asturian player admitted: "we were looking for a goal, but that wasn't to be. A 0-0 score isn't a bad result, and we expect to beat Shelbourne in Riazor, helped by our own crowd."
Deportivo's Brazilian-born captain, Mauro Silva, considered the result "not a bad one" before describing Shelbourne as "technically not incredible, but they are noble and work hard." The Spaniards were understandably bullish about their chances of progressing but winger Albert Luque, arguably Deportivo's best player on the night, warned: "we don't fear any opponent, but Shelbourne were well positioned and are very secure at the back.
"Besides, they fought until the end and, like last season, it's up to us to settle the issue in the Riazor. But we will have to concentrate on the task to beat them."
Luque's presence on Wednesday night means he will remain a Deportivo player despite being courted by Barcelona. The Catalan club secured the €27 million signing of Samuel Eto'o, having balked at Deportivo's 20 million valuation of Luque.
Of more direct relevance to Shelbourne is the news that defender Noureddine Naybet, who was suspended from Wednesday night's game, has joined Spurs from Deportivo. The Moroccan international is an accomplished defender and the decision to let him go comes as a bit of a surprise.
Irureta will be heartened that injuries to goalkeeper Jose Molina and substitute Aldo Duscher won't affect their participation in the second leg.
Alan Moore caught the goalkeeper with his foot on the thigh as they both chased a ball outside the penalty area. Molina admitted: "I immediately felt a lot of pain and that's why I asked to be substituted. But now I expect it only to be painful and nothing serious, so I could be back within four or five days."
While the Deportivo management and players were relatively complimentary, the Spanish press were less than enthralled with Wednesday's game. The Spanish agency EFE, which provided the report for the newspaper Marca, was critical of Deportivo's inability to take a decisive advantage back to the Riazor stadium.
"The inability of Deportivo to score even one goal against an extremely modest Shebourne leaves the issue undecided until the second leg. Although Deportivo were hugely superior technically they could not overcome the enthusiastic locals, who used their physicality to try and reduce the abyss-like gap between the two teams. The result of all this was 90 soporific minutes not worthy of Europe's top competition."
Another newspaper El Mundo Deportivo offered player ratings. The entire Deportivo team got two stars out of four, except for Romero, Valeron and Victor, who could only manage one. Conversely almost the entire Shelbourne team got one star; Steve Williams, David Crawley and Ollie Cahill the exceptions who netted two-star ratings.
