Kovar on sport-fm.gr: “The elimination from Olympiakos last year in the Challenge Cup was tough”

It was June 3, 2022, when the champion at the time, Panathinaikos was proceeding with a major transfer to strengthen its limbs. The “greens” announced in an announcement that the experienced Czech, with an Italian passport, winger Jiri Kovar, would wear the shirt with the “clover”, making the management’s intention to raise the team level.

Kovar, showed from the beginning that together with Hernandez, they would be the points of reference for Dimitris Andreopoulos, as with their class and experience they contributed the most to the conquest of League Cup and Super Cup of the 2022-23 season.

Almost a year after his arrival at Panathinaikos, Jiri Kovar spoke at sport-fm.gr and the George Zachariou about the goals of the “clover” in the new season, the strengthening of the roster and how much the additions will help the team, the new championship of nine teamsbut also the “tough one”, as he described his exclusion from Olympiakos in the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup last season.

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In detail, the statements of Yiri Kovar, on sport-fm.gr and Giorgos Zachariou:

What to expect from Panathinaikos this year:: “The goals are the same this year as well. We have some new players. We don’t know each other well on a personal level yet, but we need to find good chemistry. If we make a good team and feel good with each other, beautiful things can happen in the team.”.

Last year was a strange year for Panathinaikos, but there was the conquest of the League Cup and the Super Cup. Do you think that the way in which qualification for the Challenge Cup final was lost affected you psychologically in the league as well?

“It was definitely tough for us. We won a very difficult match at Olympiakos’ home, without Fernando. We deserved more things for sure, but what happened in the second game I think didn’t help us. We played without our world and it was not easy. Certainly the way in which the elimination came to us fell apart psychologically.

We have positive thinking for the new season and of course I can’t say that we will win all the trophies, because healthy sport doesn’t work like that. But we will do our best for the best”.

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Panathinaikos has been strengthened considerably and with very quality players for the new season. Do you see this as a challenge to go the extra mile?

“Sure it’s good. All players are at a high level. It will be better for us to train at this level. To be honest it wasn’t the same last year. We had good players again, but this year things have improved. We won’t have just one game mode. There are more options, our coach will be able to try and improve things. Mr. Andreopoulos will guide us so that we can give our best and find a way together to achieve our goals”.

You have played in big teams and leagues, with many trophies. Do you think that in Panathinaikos, as a club and with the “wants” that exist from the world, you have more pressure?: “No, there is no pressure, but a “thirst” to play. Of course, if you feel pressure, it means that you have to do something important, but it should not lead us astray. Pressure for me can only do good. You are fighting for something important and you want to achieve something great. There are good and bad things you can invest in. But we all want and try to invest for the best in the team”.

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How easy is it for a winger to have two young passers on the team?

“We have enough time to communicate and get to know each other because we also start the preparation early. In previous years, for example in Italy, it was more difficult. We kept having new passers playing in the National team, but then there was only one week to prepare. That’s why I think it won’t be difficult.

We now have two young and good passers, I’m happy about that and we’ll look for a way to communicate easily.”

What new will we see this year in the competitive part from Panathinaikos?

“For me it is not only important to have good players. Good players can’t win every game, but they can win a game. The same goes for leagues. The players don’t get them. Teams win them. In my career so far I have seen very good players. But few played for the team and for the whole. They were playing for themselves. They were selfish and that was a big problem.

You can win a difficult game, but in the long run, you lose things from it. And other teams have good players and maybe better teams. For me, the most important thing this season is that we are a team. I want to play for my teammates and they for me”.

Could you choose between a European trophy and the double in Greece?

“It is not easy to choose. A European title is and will be more important than the domestic ones. But this year will be much more difficult compared to last year because there are also teams from Italy, so the road will be more difficult this year.

I will not go into the process of choosing. What I want is for my team to play well and I am sure that if we give 100% the desired results will come. If we do it this year it will be a bigger success anyway with these very difficult teams”.

Is it good for you that you will have a week off, since there will be nine teams competing in the league?

“Last year we had too many games. Two a week. In a way it’s good that sometimes we won’t be playing. I was used to playing in leagues with 12 or even 14 teams. It’s good that we won’t lose points because if you lose them you can’t get them back.

It’s a different league mode. There are good teams. We have to get as many points as we can against our main rivals.”.

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