PAOK’s Spanish defender Jose Angel Crespo is uncompromising and willing to give his all to make history in this year’s Conference League.
Jose Angel Crespo never stops dreaming. While he may be the player who has won the most trophies wearing the PAOK shirt, the Spaniard declared after his side’s 1-0 win over Gent in Toumba: “Only if we go to Tirana (ss: where will the final of the Conference League) I can say that I achieved everything at PAOK”.
The Spanish defender told Sportish:
For defeating Gent and qualifying: “It’s important that we get a good result going into the second leg, that gives us confidence. However, the qualification with 1:0 is still open. I think the second game will be difficult for us, but also for them. The qualification is still open for both”.
For the rematch and the European dream of PAOK: “Our dreams are big to qualify and go as far as possible in this event. We know it’s quite difficult, but the situation is in our hands, as we showed in the first game. We will do our best, we will do everything to get this qualification.”
For this year’s Europe trip to Dikefalos: “It’s something very beautiful. Personally, I’ve been in the team for almost six years and have experienced many beautiful moments. Maybe because we live it from within, day by day, we can’t see exactly what we’ve accomplished. Years from now we will see that we have achieved something very good, something beautiful. But we don’t want to stop here. We want to keep going, moving forward. I know this might be my last three months with the team, so I want to give something more, achieve something better, keep making history with PAOK and enjoy it.”
For the appearance and mentality of the team: “We have a very strong mentality and we are focused. In some moments of the game we suffered, but we all suffered together, as one. Then we had our chances and maybe we could use them better to get an even better result. “In the end we won and now we have to show the same mentality in Belgium.”
For the consecutive games and the transition from Greece to Europe: “It’s very difficult because every game is different. Now we have the playoffs and a difficult game with PAS Giannina ahead of us. We need to change the… chip in our head and focus. We know that on the same day the teams behind us will play (ss means Panathinaikos-AEK), so with a win we can open the difference. It will be difficult, we have to show the same mentality, give everything. We’ve been celebrating the win over Gent for a while and now turn to playing with PAS.
Whether he feels he has achieved everything with PAOK after winning the league, cups and this year’s European course: “Not yet. If we go to… Tirana, I’ll say I’ve achieved everything. I’m ambitious. We want to continue. We always dream and want to achieve something special here”.
