Niko Kovac: "Nothing is ever finished"
Niko Kovac and Youssouf Fofana reflect on their team's good reaction after the draw against Stade de Reims (2-2).
On the opening day of the Ligue 1 Uber Eats season, AS Monaco and Stade de Reims played out a 2-2 draw. At the post-match press conference, Niko Kovac, Youssouf Fofana and Stade de Reims coach David Guion reflected on this first point taken by each of the two teams.
I must admit that I was surprised and shocked because after two goals by the opponents we were down 2-0. It really was not easy, but in the end I'm happy and proud because the reaction from my team has been very good. We showed that nothing is ever finished after 20 minutes, and we had character. We dominated the game by creating more clear chances but we must not forget also the decisive save by Benjamin Lecomte.
It has been 5 months since there had been any football in the French championship. It is true that we were surprised by their opening the score, but I will remember in particular the 70 minutes which followed because they were very good. We are on the right track: tactically, technically, we will continue to progress.
Henry Onyekuru is an important player in the squad, having only been with us for two weeks. As you have seen, Sofiane Diop made a good appearance off the bench. I'm happy with both players. We have a very young bench, we have to take the time to get all of our players on the pitch. As for Aurélien Tchouaméni, he is a midfielder with a great work ethic, playing box to box. He has great physical and technical quality, he is a rock. We will all progress together, there is great potential in this team.
It should be remembered that Reims are not a European team by luck. We were very disappointed that we started the game badly, but after the cooling break we had a very good reaction. The coach has only arrived recently, understanding is being created and this is a good omen.
🎙 Réaction de @fofana22_ après #ASMSDR 2️⃣-2️⃣ pic.twitter.com/kgDBVBWVXy
— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) August 23, 2020
I would like to congratulate the 22 players for the high level of intensity during the match. AS Monaco is a great team which will be at the top of the table. It is a team that wants to play in the opponent's half and on the flanks, notably through Gelson Martins -- this is complemented by technical players like Wissam Ben Yedder and Aleksandr Golovin.
