After Ondřej Šašinka’s goal in the setup of the second half, euphoria erupted on the Hradec bench. Weber himself performed an exhibition slide. “The second match was beautiful. The celebration was only carried away by the jeans, the knee is probably fine,” smiles the coach, who previously worked in Mladá Boleslav, Karviná or České Budějovice.
He has been on the bench of East Bohemia since the new season and he was not very pleased with the draw. Last weekend Hradec lost 0:2 at Slavia, in the second round they visited Pilsen. “I have to say that we were not happy with the schedule. If someone had told me two weeks ago that we would have a point after two rounds, I would have taken it,” explains Weber.
At the end of the match in Štruncové Sady, he experienced several heart attack moments. First a conceded goal, then an unconverted penalty, when Daniel Vašulín was caught with his foot by Pilsen goalkeeper Jindřich Staněk.
“Vasulín kicked it wrong. I knew it was going to be difficult, the delay between the whistle and the penalty doesn’t help, it was maybe four minutes. He didn’t concentrate well. I’m sorry, on the other hand, he took responsibility for it, won the car and participated in the settlement. And, of course, I appreciate Staňko’s excellent intervention,” admits Weber.
At that time, substitute Šašinka was already on the pitch. “Players are designated, maybe another time. I’m a striker, I want to score goals and next time I’ll apply for a penalty,” he doesn’t hide his ambitions for the next competitions. But in the end he became a hero himself when Adam Gabriel’s fluffy center knocked his head over the line in the last action of the duel. “I remember what one told me coach, that defenders like to pick it up on the back post. Gába put it there perfectly. I wanted to jump over the defender and not foul, and I succeeded,” describes the shooter. And what kind of coach was it? “Mr. Martin Svědík,” he mentions with a smile the coach from his former place of work in Slovácko.
All in all, the final passage of the match definitely offered more than the opening 80 minutes combined. Weber only regrets the passive start and subsequently the unused opportunities to get chances. Gabriel was very active on the right side, but the final phase simply rubbed Hradec.
After the conceded goal from the boot of Pilsen captain Lukáš Hejda in the 81st minute, Hradec threw all its forces into the offensive. “I reorganized the game, the team took responsibility for it. You could see the great morale that we wanted to equalize, and in the end we succeeded,” the coach is pleased. “It was a very competitive game from both sides. We know that Pilsen is struggling with shooting, we wanted to grab some points after the start against Slavia in order to go in in a good mood for the home game. Relax and keep going,” agrees Šašinka.
Hradec should play the third round of the Fortuna League on Saturday at the newly opened home stadium. This was not at all clear in recent weeks, but in the end it seems that the building will receive all the necessary permits and approvals for the duel with České Budějovice in the east of Bohemia to take place.
“I said I wouldn’t talk about it, but now I’m in a good mood. I can’t imagine that we would play anywhere else,” Weber is clear. The option for the autumn part, if things don’t work out in Hradec, is Pilsen.