It was one of the most disappointing evenings in Eran Zehavi’s career: precisely in a game in which he managed to score a double, and bring his team, PSV Eindhoven, closer to a reversal against Olympiacos – he ended the night as the overall winner. Although the Dutch defeated the Greeks 1: 2 last night (Thursday), this advantage was not enough after they lost 4: 2 in the first game, and finished their way in the Europa League in the big 32 stage. Disappointed Zahavi, as usual, left no room for doubt about his feelings.
“Of course we’m disappointed. After the goal, I wanted to fall underground myself. I feel shit. To see Olympiacos celebrating in our stadium … it’s awful,” he confessed at the end, “unfortunately, it didn’t work out for us this time, but so does football: “The disappointment, the strong emotions … these are the reasons why this game is the most popular in the world. Today we were on the wrong side of it.”
“Sometimes it’s just bad luck. Games fall on the small details, and today we did not have that luck. We have to get it and move on. We have an important game on Sunday, Ajax are a good team, so we must not be disappointed for a long time.” .
“I personally had a good game, but I would have been happier if my four goals had helped us qualify. Even if I had scored just one goal and we had gone up, it would have been enough for me. In the second half we were under pressure, so we retreated, and it was hard. “In the end, we are clearly disappointed. We could have killed the game with a third goal, and we did not.” His teammate, Denzel Dempries said at the end: “It should not have happened, but it did happen. Now our concentration will only be in the league, we need to get the best out of it.”
Yesterday Zehavi scored his ninth goal in the last 14 appearances. Also, Zahavi is the first to score four goals in a European knockout match for PSV since the Brazilian Ronaldo in the 1995/96 season.
Eran Zahavi: ” Personally I think it was a good game for me. I also think it was a good performance for the team in the first half. Of course in the second half we made more defensive work because they pushed a lot of players up. They are also an experienced team. ” #PSVOLY pic.twitter.com/otZCfURQ0o
– Football 24/7 (@ Foet247Benelux) February 25, 2021
Meanwhile, the media continued to praise the star. “Zahavi is PSV’s man,” he was defined during the game by a local football website, and in AD they wrote about the free kick on the verge of the break: “He left the goalkeeper no chance.” The Peruvian ESPN network’s Twitter account even Compare the performance, to that of Juan Roman Riquelme.
“Eran Zehavi brought hope to Eindhoven in a just terrific performance,” the Dutch ED complimented, “he wanted so badly to fulfill the European dream and get to the later stages, but everything exploded inside. Now it’s all clear why Roger Schmidt so insisted on it.”
“PSV’s professional team trusted him even when he did not go, and he proved how significant he can be to PSV,” the Dutch media added, “to score 4 goals against the same opponent by knockout and not to go up? It sure feels Like an injustice to gold. ”
Many fans, both in the Netherlands and in Turkey (yes, those fans who so hoped to see him in Fenerbahce), showered praise on the Israeli. “I would buy a shirt from the Israeli king of PSV,” said one of them. Others went further and crowned him “King of the Europa League”.