Jovanovic: “I will try not to incite violence with my statements, we all have to look at ourselves”

Panathinaikos hosts Maccabi Haifa at Leoforo with the aim of securing a ticket to the Conference League. The Greens need a draw to finish third in their group but Ivan Jovanovic said his side would only go for the win as it was a question of mentality.

At the same time, with regard to the government’s measures to combat violence, he emphasized that he would try in his own way not to motivate small children to commit such acts, which is what all protagonists should do.

What Ivan Jovanovic said in detail at the press conference: He’s worried that he hasn’t had a game in ten days: “Like the last ten days, we were preparing for the championship, but it was canceled due to the referees. We wanted to do a normal preparation with Maccabi. We played games with higher intensity and in the seven to eight days where we knew we weren’t going to have a game, we knew we could work a little harder. We’ve been working on getting this game ready. It’s a challenging game“.

This opinion on what is happening in sport and on the measures to combat violence: “For all of us in football, playing in empty stands is the hardest thing we can endure. It is difficult for any player to play important league games in empty stands. We play for the fans, they motivate us. It’s too hard for us. There are also many other things around us that we need to think about.

Violence exists everywhere, not just in football. I’m having a very hard time finding a solution. I will try not to mislead some young children into doing things that are not consistent with what I say. We have a new child in the hospital fighting for his life. It’s a question of mindset. It’s not an easy decision, if a government comes along it will be difficult.

I believe that as protagonists we have to set an example with our behavior and our statements, we have to be modest and correct. Not to pressure people to behave in a way that is not right. I understand that we (as football) are a problem, we are a headache. Nobody wants a headache. Logically, the decisions are against us and hope that they can at least provide a solution to problems related to violence in the future.

It’s not easy and I don’t expect much to change. It is also a question of culture. In the Balkans we are warm-blooded, we love football in our own way, different from Northern Europe. It is more. The protagonists (football players, coaches, agents) must all try to look at ourselves, at football and the product“.

For the first game and if they were surprised by their style of play: “We weren’t particularly surprised. Our group was very difficult, as was AEK’s, who played in a competitive group. Maccabi Haifa is a good team, the players have been together for years and know each other well.

He has more experience than us and more presence in Europe. The first game where Maccabi Haifa took advantage of our mistakes, they have the quality to do it. We expect her to be competitive. He can only qualify with a win. We have the attitude that we always play to win. It remains to be seen which team will prevail in the end result“.

Whether the draw makes him think: “I can’t worry. We’ve never done this before, in any game, not even at the European Championships. We didn’t think about it as a team. We never went into the game with the mindset that we could defend the score or play for a result that suited us.

It’s not our style, it’s not my style and the way I communicate with the players. We have to be positive in the way we play it. We have to have demands on ourselves. Teams like Panathinaikos have a win as a normal result. I hope we can show it tomorrow. We will also have the world on our side, which is a positive thing“.