OFI Crete defender Konstantinos Kostoulas said nobody expected the club to achieve what it has this season, crediting hard work for the Cretan side's run of success.
Speaking on protothema.gr's talk show The Football Show by Stoiximan, Kostoulas said the team was very happy with what it had accomplished, adding that nobody had expected it from them. He said they had achieved it through hard work, and that while they were happy, bigger things were still coming for all of them.
Kostoulas said the success had not come by chance but through a daily process of improvement and belief in the team's ability. He said they had achieved great things and hoped for a lot more, adding that the coach had instilled in the squad a mentality of never settling and always wanting more.
Cup, Super Cup and Europa League run
Kostoulas said this philosophy was one of the main reasons behind OFI's run of historic results this season. He pointed to the club's Cup triumph, its appearance in the Super Cup, and its qualification for the League Phase of the Europa League as the product of a campaign built through steady progress.
He said that was how they had reached the Cup, the Super Cup and qualification to the League Phase of the Europa League, calling them very important moments for the club and saying they wanted to continue on the same path.
Christos Kontis' influence
Kostoulas credited head coach Christos Kontis with bringing the mentality that he said underpinned the team's rise, pushing the squad to keep striving rather than being satisfied with what it had already won.
OFI Crete, formally Omilos Filathlon Iraklio, is based in Heraklion on the island of Crete and is one of Greek football's older clubs. The Football Show by Stoiximan is a football talk programme produced by the Greek news site protothema.gr.
Looking ahead
Kostoulas said the squad, driven by hard work, focus and ambition for even bigger achievements, was determined not to settle for what it had already won but to keep writing new pages in the club's history.
