After the 13th win in a row, Coach Fairness and his squad reached the final of the African Cup, where they tip off against Nigeria. With a 134-67 win against Tounes, they finally got that to go, of what Fairness dreamed the whole season long - they qualified for the World Cup! Here a little interview with him:
Press: "First, please tell us something about your feelings yesterday"
FN: "It was just great! I didn't really realise what huge step we made with this win after the game, but after some thinking I know how huge it was, it was the hugest step I've ever made, the step to the World Cup!"
Press: "Sounds great! How did the team react to that win?"
FN: "Naturally we celebrated it, even if some of them were at the WC before. Our captain Yousef said to me, it feels better than the first time, what made me even more happier than I was first."
Press: "How do you prepare for tomorrow's final against the rival Nigeria?"
FN: "We had a little team meeting yesterday evening in our hotel, where I told them that we have to stay calm now. We'll make a last practice today, where we try out some things. We know their team way better than they know our's, we'll be ready!"
Press: "You've got 13-0 record now, a 2-0 record against Nigeria and you're ranked 28 ranks in front of them, seems like you're the favourite for tomorrow right?"
FN: "Not really, those statistics don't mean much. Nigeria has HCA, they've got waaay better shapes than we do and they especially have Usman in a shape of 9, what makes them extremely dangerous. We sure want to win, but the clear favourite for this game is ChrisBack and his Nigerian squad!"
Press: "Like we often mentioned now, you reached the World Cup in S18. You're the first Austrian who'll participate there, how much honour is it to you?"
FN: "It's a huge honour! I mean, it's my 4th season in here, and to reach this goal in my 4th season is just impressive, great feeling!"
Press: "You'll play there against teams like Spain, Czech, Chile, USA, China and so on. What can you say when you think about that?"
FN: "I don't care about against we play there, I only care about against we win there. However, it's too early to talk about that, let's talk about that in a few weeks ;-)
Press: "Alright. Yesterday, you gave many youngsters a huge chance. Arabi is 22yo and El-Ibrahim is 23yo. Ibn-Osman is 23yo too, impressive that this semifinal was just his 4th game on international stage. What do you think about their effort yesterday?"
FN: "Arabi made a huge game, like he always does. He's 22, yes, but he's one of our most important players. Also El-Ibrahim did quite a good job, but he didn't really shine besides Yousef. However, he played just 11 minutes, so I'm sure his big show comes tomorrow. I'm proud that I have a guy like Ibn-Osman in this NT - he rebounds, he passes, he drives, he scores and he defends. He can do just everything, what is impressive with his 23 years and his low salary."
Press: "Ok thanks! Good luck tomorrow!"
FN: "Thanks. CU there."
_____
FINAL GAME:
30.10.2011 19:30:00 CET - Nigeria vs. Egypt