The historic success caused a storm of enthusiasm among the Red Bull Salzburg players. After the 1-0 home win over FC Sevilla on Wednesday and the associated first-time promotion of an Austrian club to the last sixteen of the Champions League, videos from the dressing room were uploaded to various social media channels almost every minute. Mainly jumping, cheering, singing and screaming kickers could be seen on it.
“Of course there is a state of emergency, we are all going,” said sports director Christoph Freund on Sky. Even in lockdown times, the players made no secret of their party mood. “I can’t think of anything else than to celebrate with the boys until Saturday,” said Karim Adeyemi on Servus TV and raved about a “great team”. Rasmus Kristensen had tears in his eyes in the interview. “It was definitely the best evening of my career, a great feeling. We deserve it. ”The Danish right-back said the great triumph should be properly recognized. “It is important to enjoy and celebrate this moment. We’ll do that too ”, promised Kristensen.Okafor makes it possible The great moment was made possible by Noah Okafor, who scored the decisive goal in the 50th minute. “I’m speechless, extremely proud of the whole team, we’re enjoying the moment now,” said the striker. Okafor is currently experiencing the most successful phase of his young career – apart from the historic goal against Sevilla, the 21-year-old was only significantly involved in Switzerland qualifying for the World Cup in mid-November. “The last few weeks have been very emotional and good for me.” Okafor has already seen completely different times. Two years ago, Salzburg paid around eleven million euros to FC Basel for the attacker, making it the most expensive purchase in the club’s history. After that, Okafor was not able to stage himself as hoped because of injuries before he really started this season. “In spite of everything, I never lost focus and faith and was rewarded for my hard work,” said the Swiss. Okafor, who was named “Man of the Match”, also emphasized the team aspect. “Our great secret of success is the solidarity within the team, that was particularly noticeable today. Everyone gives everything for everyone. ”Just like Freund, Okafor wants Manchester United to be a rival in the round of 16. “We have already proven that we can challenge any opponent and that we can hold our own against any opponent.” Jaissle wanted his coach Matthias Jaissle would not have any objection to Manchester United in the round of 16 either. The 33-year-old exchanged text messages with “Red Devils” coach Ralf Rangnick before the Seville match, both of whom already knew each other from times together at Hoffenheim. Immediately after the duel with Seville, however, the thought of possible rivals in the round of 16 was less prevalent than the joy of what has just been achieved. Jaissle: “We are all totally overwhelmed, we have achieved something very special, we can be proud of that. The team can really celebrate now. ”Immediately after the final whistle, Jaissle was only briefly part of the Salzburg crowd, he preferred to go to the dressing room, which was still orphaned at the time. “I just wanted to be alone for two or three minutes,” said the coach. So he had time to review the performance of his players again. It wasn’t a perfect game, said Jaissle. “But we were close.”
source site-12