Krasimir Balakov, now 57, is still seen as one of the best players in Sporting’s history.
In the first season with a lion on his chest, in 90/91, he reached the Europa League semifinals with the lions, but they were eliminated precisely by an Italian team: Inter. In an interview with TSFthe Bulgarian now believes that the story could be different.
“Inter had a dream team. The coach was Giovanni Trapattoni and he had players like Klinsmann and Mathaus”, he begins by recalling the former number 10 jersey of the Alvalade team.
“It was a very interesting tie but we lost and we missed the final,” he tells Balakov. Sporting had drawn 0-0 at Alvalade, then lost 2-0 with goals from Lothar Mathaus and Jurgen Klinsmann. Inter would win the final against Roma.
At Sporting, Balakov played alongside players like Fernando Gomes (former FC Porto striker), Jorge Cadete, Douglas, Oceano and Tomislav Ivkovic, who was the goalkeeper. “We had a good team,” recalls the Bulgarian, but “the current one has the capacity to reach the final.” Balakov considers that it is not easy but he believes that the coaching staff and management have already made the players know that this “is a possibility that does not appear every day, in football everything is possible”.
Currently, far from Portugal, Balakov confesses TSF that he doesn’t miss a Sporting game and that he has confidence for this Thursday’s game against Juventus. “I am very confident, from what I have seen, Sporting has a team that can still surprise everyone,” predicted the former glory from León.
Source: TSF
