The Friesland outfit suffered a 1-0 defeat in the return leg of the Europa League third qualifying round but made it through to the next phase with a 4-1 aggregate win.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/SC-Heerenveen-c40463 suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Rapid Bucuresti in the return leg of the third qualifying round of UEFA Europa League at National Arena on Thursday, August 9.
Despite the loss, the Eredivisie outfit managed to make progression to the next phase of the competition with a 4-1 aggregate win, as the Friesland-based club claimed a convincing 4-0 victory in the first-leg last week.
Marco van Basten, the Heerenveen boss, was disappointed with his side’s poor show away from home. However, the Dutchman was glad that his side has progressed through to the play-offs round.
“It did not really matter how we did it. But it was important to perform well. In the begging, Rapid put immense pressure, and scored a goal from the spot as well. They were fierce, and totally different from last week. We were
always one step behind them. Consequently, we failed to control the game, and were sloppy for most part of the game”, the former http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Netherlands-c753 manager was quoted as saying to Voetbal International.
The Dutch mentor went on to claim that this encounter was a great learning experience for his side.
“Everyone has learned a lot in this game. There are young players in my squad, and this will certainly help them”, Van Basten added.
Many of the Friesland outfit’s players were not happy with the condition of the pitch at National Arena. Van Basten also confirmed that the pitch was not in a good condition, but insisted that there is excuse for a defeat.
“The pitch was not good. But it was the same for both teams. We should not complain”, the 47-year-old tactician concluded.
Heerenveen will commence their 2012/13 Eredivisie campaign, when they take on http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/NEC-c40018 Nijmegen at Abe Lenstra Stadion on Sunday, August 12. Van Basten would be keen to kick-off the new season by securing all three points at home.
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