Jankovic: “40 minutes away from the dream”

THE Vlado Jankovic considers that the AEK is capable of beating Hapoel in Jerusalem and reaching the dream of qualifying for the Final 4 of the BCL. The 33-year-old ace speaking to “Two-Headed” emphasized that he expects a difficult assignment and perhaps not a friendly arbitration in Israel, but he does not lose his faith.

In detail, Jankovic spoke about:

-the win in the second match against Hapoel: “For us it was a life and death struggle. We knew we had to be tough, we had to be more physical, take them out of their game and not allow them to do to us what happened in the first quarter in Israel. So in terms of physicality, I think our plan succeeded.”

– the third match, next Wednesday: “We know what awaits us there, we know that Hapoel will have more tolerance than the referees, but we will be prepared. I believe that in the training sessions we will prepare properly, we will play a little more hard, we will push each other and we will be ready for the third game and for the dream”.

-the perspective of the BCL Final 4: “They would call us crazy at the start of the season. Ok we are one game away, at the moment the pressure is on Hapoel, they are the favourites, they have the must over their head. We like this, it does this to us. We’ve been on a course, at least since I’ve been here, which is only up, we’re fighting hard, we’re fighters on the pitch and I think that shows in the results. We are one game away, we all know it, we all understand it, so we will give it our all for the dream. We want this match to end next Wednesday and we want to say that we gave everything on the court, regardless of the result.”

– the battle with Peristeri in the playoffs: “I don’t think it’s a good fight, for some reason Peristeri came third, it’s a very good team, very well organized, with Spanoulis having passed his beginnings as a coach now. It will be a very tough series, they have the home advantage, they have a well-tuned team and there will be a battle there too, Far away for now as our mind and our energy and our everything is only in the third game in Israel. Let’s go for a big battle.”

– his selection as MVP of March for AEK: “Surely it is a vindication, however big or small it may be. I think what I do on the pitch helps the team. I try to be in everything, sometimes I succeed, sometimes not. For me personally, I want to keep improving, keep giving things to the team. There were difficult times, until I decided to come to AEK, so I see it more as a relief. But in general, what I care about most, is what I do brings results to the team. If I try and the team wins, that’s the most important thing for me.”