Lead Development Coach praises players after Bosnia tour
Cardiff City Lead Development Coach Nilton Terroso was left ‘immensely proud’ by the efforts of his squad despite defeat against sister club FK Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Kicking off their 2014-15 pre-season preparations in the Bosnian capital as part of a three day stay in the Balkans, City’s Under-21s took on the UEFA Europa League qualifiers at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday night infront of a 5,000 strong crowd.
And speaking following his sides resilient performance despite defeat, newly appointed Lead Development Coach Terroso said: “First and foremost I am immensely proud of the boys, for us it was about coming out here and experiencing new surroundings and everything we could for the 90 minutes.
“We had chances in the first-half and conceded the first two goals from set-pieces which we can work on. But we never gave up, we competed and showed resilience and that’s what I asked from them.
“We have to remember that this is a team that is much further ahead of us in terms of preparation, this is a team that has a UEFA Europa League qualifier in six days time and for the majority of our players this was their first game in almost two months after just a week back in training.
“For me I’m immensely proud of the boys, they’ve been brave and competed and have shown that we do try and do the right things and we’ve got everything to be proud of.”
It’s a match that has gone further to strengthen the ties between both Cardiff City and sister club FK Sarajevo, in a relationship that Nilton believes can only benefit both clubs in the long-term, saying: “Fundamentally there are a lot of things that we can learn.
“They’ve got experience here culturally and in football terms that we don’t experience back home and similarly for them and what they can learn from us in terms of philosophy, set-ups and organisation.”
City’s Development squad now travel to Portugal for a six day training camp before returning to South Wales for their second pre-season fixture against Haverfordwest County at Bridge Meadow Stadium on Tuesday 22nd July.
“We go to continue what we have done so far,” said Nilton. “They’ve been excellent, not only against Sarajevo but in this first week in training. Now we head to Portugal for six days of intense training and with everything we’ve got and the boys efforts I’m sure we’ll continue to progress.
“For me the most important thing for me is to develop these players. I want to continue some of the great work that has already been done and allow these players to develop and continue to progress to hopefully professional footballers.”
WATCH ALL THE GOALS AND REACTION FROM CARDIFF CITY'S TRIP TO SARAJEVO ON YOUTUBE AND CARDIFF CITY PLAYER NOW