Victory at FC Tokyo: What Ricken, Kovac, and Anton had to say about the tour finale | OneFootball

“In the end, there’s no substitute for a win, even if it was just a friendly. It’s important to me that the players were rewarded – they deserve it for the way they represented BVB on this trip. They did an outstanding job. When you fly out here, you want to come home with a win. Of course, things are bound to get a little wild at times, a little erratic with all the substitutions and because the team is such a mixed group. But we’ve already seen a lot of what we’ve worked on in training. In that sense, we can call it a successful week.”

Niko Kovac: “It’s always nice to win the last game before heading home. The entire week was a success. We got a lot done. We don’t have all our players here yet, but you could see today – especially in the first half – that the quality is on a whole different level with the lads who were on the field. The first half was really good. We created three or four good chances but didn’t capitalize on them. Conditions were difficult today, especially after the downpour. Then steam rises from the ground and it’s hard to breathe. I know what the lads accomplished today. Carney and Enzo have bruised knees. I don’t think it’ll be too serious. We’ll examine them back home, and then we’ll know more.”

Waldemar Anton: “I felt really good—really fit. When we had to come back in after the first rain shower, it was a bit tiring. But overall, it was a good test for the lads who played for the first time today. You could tell that at times they were fresher and more agile than we were. Still, we had a lot of control in the first half and good chances to take a 1-0 lead. We need to capitalize on those better and play a little better in our final third. We finished the week on a high note. I’m glad we came away with the win here.”Recorded by Christina Reinke