Phillip Cocu could not but be satisfied afterwards with the 4-0 away win over N.E.C. Both the play in the first half and the concentration with which his team played out the game after halftime visibly charmed the coach. "When you win an away game like this at N.E.C. with these figures, you just have to be very satisfied. This is a good boost for Tuesday's game," Cocu said, referring to the Champions League game against Atlético Madrid.
Cocu: 'Excellent match'
In the first 25 minutes of the match, Cocu saw the PSV he likes best. "We played very dominant, were well focused, prepared and in no way concerned with Tuesday's match. That resulted in an excellent game and some beautiful goals," Cocu analyzed. That his team fared so well was partly due to the early goal, the coach thought. "In games like this, it is important to score a goal early. The opponent has to come up a bit more and that gives you space, which we used well. With that, we made it easy for ourselves."
Then, in the second half, Cocu was anxious not to get a goal. "At halftime I indicated that we shouldn't start making crazy moves. Of course we wanted to score another goal, but the most important thing was to keep the zero. We wanted to show we were further ahead in that respect than last year. We managed to do that."
Peter Hyballa
N.E.C. coach Peter Hyballa had to look for bright spots after the defeat. A few he found. "On the ball we got a little better. And besides that, let's just say that this is good for the process we are in. We have to focus on Sparta Rotterdam, which is our level. PSV is simply a lot better. I want to congratulate them warmly," the German concluded.