Brandywell return a piece of Kek for Rijeka boss
RIJEKA head coach, Matjaž Kek has fond memories of playing at Brandywell Stadium with NK Maribor in the Champions League qualifiers and his return visit almost 30 years later proved equally as enjoyable.
When the draw for the Uefa Conference League second round was made Kek immediately recognised the name 'Derry City Football Club' and recalled his first trip to Foyleside back in the summer of 1997.
Slovenian champions Maribor were paired with Felix Healy's Candy Stripes who had just won the League of Ireland Premier Division for the second time in the club's history.
Kek, a former centre-half who also guided Slovenia to the last 16 of the Euro 2024 as manager of his national team, was at the heart of the Maribor defence, facing Liam Coyle and, a surprise choice in attack, Peter Hutton.
Winning 1-0 on aggregate from the first leg, the Slovenians won 2-0 on the night to progress to the second round and it's a match which stuck in the head of Kek who returned on Thursday night to inflict similar pain on Derry with Croatian club Rijeka.
"I was a player here 30 years ago when I played with Maribor. I remember the old stand," he recalled after his side's 1-0 win over Derry in the Conference League. "It was a similar match. We won 2-0 but it was not easy.
"It was a long time ago but when I saw the draw and saw Derry, I was thinking about that game. I remember two helicopters in the sky during the game, but since there was no airport in the city we landed in Belfast. It was a nice memory, and today is the same, I will have nice memories from Derry," he smiled smugly.
Rijeka begins its domestic campaign next week and Kek felt Thursday's tie would've been tricky given their lack of match fitness compared to Derry who are in the latter stages of their season.
And so the 2-0 aggregate victory, thanks to goals from Toni Fruk and Daniel Adu-Adjei, meant mission accomplished for Kek who can now look ahead to a third round tie against Finnish club Ilves.
"We are satisfied with this win. I think it was the correct result for both sides. It's not easy to play here in Derry. but congratulations to both teams. I wish all the best to Derry in the Championship.
"It wasn't easy because this is our second match of the season. Derry have had a lot of matches and experience this season. We started one week and have many new players and players leaving the club. So I'm satisfied but I know we must do better and we will."
Having watched plenty of footage of Derry including their Europa League first round qualifiers against CSKA Sofia, Kek admitted he was wary of Derry's threat coming into the tie.
"I saw both games against CSKA Sofia and I know how they play because I saw some matches from this season and last season. It's not easy to play here. They scored three goals against CSKA so that was enough for us to know we would get a tough match in this nice atmosphere, this real football atmosphere."
Liam Boyce's first half chance moments before the deciding goal was a crucial point in the match but Kek was happy his goalkeeper did his job.
"That could've been everything. Okay, we were a little lucky but we took our chance when it came and scored and then it was much easier. It's not easy when you don't score so it was a really big chance but we have a goalkeeper and they are there to make saves like that.”