ROBBIE KEANE FACES an uphill battle if he is to lead Ferencváros back to the Champions League group/league phase.
The Hungarian champions fell to a 3-1 home defeat to Qarabağ in the play-off round first leg last night. Ireland international Callum O’Dowda played the full game for Ferencváros.
Keane’s side led 1-0 in Budapest after Barnabás Varga’s 29th-minute opener, but second half goals from Marko Janković, Kevin Medina and Musa Qurbanlı put Qarabağ — Shelbourne’s conquerors — in control ahead of next Wednesday’s return leg.
“Football can always come back and kick you where it’s not good.”
The former Ireland international reflected on the game as a whole, rueing “small margins” at Groupama Aréna.
“First half, we were okay. We got the goal, we looked comfortable, but then a big injury to Bence [Ötvös] disrupted the group. Still, saying that, the first goal came from a throw in the corner, they came out and score and the second came from a set piece.
“It’s not like they played the ball through us, so that’s disappointing. But the second half, after losing Bence, I wanted more control of the football.
“We had our chances also. Football has a small margin for error. It’s small margins, you have to take the opportunities. They took theirs, we didn’t.”
Keane led Ferencváros to their seventh successive Hungarian league title in May, having taken over from Pascal Jansen in January with the team in second.
The Dubliner previously guided Maccabi Tel Aviv to the 2023–24 Israeli Premier League title before stepping down as manager.
Keane was also briefly in charge of Indian side ATK in 2018, and had spells on the coaching staffs of Ireland, Middlesbrough and Leeds.
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Robbie Keane: 'Football can always come back and kick you where it’s not good'
ROBBIE KEANE FACES an uphill battle if he is to lead Ferencváros back to the Champions League group/league phase.
The Hungarian champions fell to a 3-1 home defeat to Qarabağ in the play-off round first leg last night. Ireland international Callum O’Dowda played the full game for Ferencváros.
Keane’s side led 1-0 in Budapest after Barnabás Varga’s 29th-minute opener, but second half goals from Marko Janković, Kevin Medina and Musa Qurbanlı put Qarabağ — Shelbourne’s conquerors — in control ahead of next Wednesday’s return leg.
“What can give us hope is that they already think they’ve won,” Keane told his post-match press conference.
“Football can always come back and kick you where it’s not good.”
The former Ireland international reflected on the game as a whole, rueing “small margins” at Groupama Aréna.
“First half, we were okay. We got the goal, we looked comfortable, but then a big injury to Bence [Ötvös] disrupted the group. Still, saying that, the first goal came from a throw in the corner, they came out and score and the second came from a set piece.
“It’s not like they played the ball through us, so that’s disappointing. But the second half, after losing Bence, I wanted more control of the football.
“We had our chances also. Football has a small margin for error. It’s small margins, you have to take the opportunities. They took theirs, we didn’t.”
Keane led Ferencváros to their seventh successive Hungarian league title in May, having taken over from Pascal Jansen in January with the team in second.
The Dubliner previously guided Maccabi Tel Aviv to the 2023–24 Israeli Premier League title before stepping down as manager.
Keane was also briefly in charge of Indian side ATK in 2018, and had spells on the coaching staffs of Ireland, Middlesbrough and Leeds.
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Champions League Football Reaction Robbie Keane Soccer