Valencia coach Jose Bordalas says he chose the penalty takers for their shootout defeat to Real Betis in the Copa del Rey final.
Real Betis held their nerve to win a penalty shootout 5-4 on Saturday after a thrilling contest had ended 1-1 following extra time at a packed La Cartuja stadium.
Yunus Musah was the fall guy as he missed Valencia’s fourth spot-kick to give Betis a 5-4 win on penalties.
Bordalas said, “The decision about the penalties is up to the coach. It is always made by talking to the players. Some are fatigued and for a decisive shot we stick with those who are more confident. We had already talked about it and these were the players who had the most confidence. Yunus missed, but this is part of football.
“As for the second question, it’s time to lift my spirits up again, but I can’t talk about the future. I am the coach and what I have to do is get the players back up. We have to congratulate them because I am very proud of them. We’ll see what the future holds. We all wanted to get into Europe. It wasn’t to be and now it’s time to keep going.”
On the fans, he continued “I thank them. I cannot apologise, because they will have seen that we gave it everything, every last drop of sweat. We had our chances to win. We didn’t do it, and in finals you don’t get a second chance, but you can’t blame the team for anything. I thank the fans because they also gave everything. I’m sure they’re proud of the team.
“We had a great team like Betis in front of us. They were serious opponents. We knew there were going to be alternatives in how they play. They have a great squad, but we had some very good moments at the beginning of the second half; we also had a chance for Soler near the end. The team were really good. I’m proud of all of them. I’m proud of Gabriel. He has gone through an ordeal this season but he has brought his recovery forward for the team. He is a leader, an example who always gives everything. Thanks to them we have played the match we played today.”
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