Uhrin: Tough and Interesting Rival I Look Forward to
Olympique Marseille, the opponent of Mladá Boleslav in the first round of the UEFA Cup is a tenfold champion of France, tenfold holder of the national cup and the winner of the Champions League from 1993. After three opening rounds of 2006/07 season, the club leads the French league ahead of the title defender Lyon. The club qualified in the UEFA Cup from the fifth position in the last season. The supporters of Olympique Marseille are renowned for their frenetic up to fanatic favour for their colours and, at the same time, hate with respect to their opponents.
The coach of Mladá Boleslav branded the French team the most difficult opponent of the five potential ones offered by the drawing group (Sevilla, Marseille, Besiktas, Heerenveen and Grasshoppers). "But they are very interesting opponent and I look forward to them," said Dušan Uhrin as his first reaction to the draw. He added the players would try their best to qualify. "I do not know too much about the rival except for the well known fact that they lead the French league at present and that they are very attractive team for spectators thanks to the fact that Ribery and Cisse play there," added Uhrin. He supposes to watch at least one match of Marseille with his own eyes.
"They are probably the toughest opponent of those five possible, but certainly more pleasant than Besiktas Istanbul," noted the skipper of Mladá Boleslav, Marek Kulič. "It would be a miracle if we would qualify, but we will try it," said the only national player of the Mladá Boleslav dressing room. "It is a tough draw, but none of the Czech teams has got easy opponent," noted Marek Matějovský (Sparta Prague plays against Hearts of Midlothain, Slovan Liberec against CZ Beograd and Slavia Prague against Tottenham Hotspurs). He said that it had been good experience in connection with the draw that Mladá Boleslav had met a leading French team from Rennes during summer preparation. "It will be very difficult as Olympique Marseille is an European giant club like Galatasaray Istanbul, but I cannot compare them as to football skills because I do not know the French team," said Matějovský. "Really very tough draw," added Miloš Brezinský. And what does he say to the fact that exceptionally thunderous environment expects him in Marseille? "It cannot be worse than in Istanbul," said the stopper of Mladá Boleslav and confirmed that experience obtained during the match in Istanbul would be helpful not only for him but for the complete team. The players do not think about advantage or disadvantage of playing the first match on the rival's pitch. "It does not matter whether we play the first match at home or away," means Brezinský. "It is no use analysing where we play the first match as the results from both matches will be counted together finally," said Matějovský.
