NK Osijek in mid-season training in Medjugorje.
Osijek Football Club head coach Zoran Zekić decided yesterday to give his players a day off, the first since they came to Međugorje where they have been preparing for the new spring football season. Some players decided to use the short break from training and matches to visit the Apparition Hill and also to recover from fatigue. On the Apparition Hill, the players and coaching staff said a short prayer and then enjoyed the rest of the day off, reports Glas Slavonije on February 1, 2016.
Osijek players are midway through their training campaign for the new season. In the next week, they will play two friendly matches in order to get ready for the spring part of the Croatian national football championship. Osijek fans should soon know what they can expect from their team in the spring. So far, Osijek has played two games in Herzegovina and in both of them they showed solid performances. They played against top BiH teams Velež and Široki Brijeg and have proved that their fans can look forward to some quality games.
The defeat against Široki Brijeg was the first during this preseason campaign, but there is no reason for special concern since Osijek played quite well. The team was punished for lack of concentration in the opening minutes of the first and second half. “We have trained to defend ourselves against such attacks many times and I have warned the players about that, but we have still allowed goals to our opponents. I was really angry, but we must continue to work hard. We did not play badly, but again we were not dangerous enough in front of the other team’s goal”, said coach Zekić. “You could clearly see that some of our important players were tired. I am sorry that against Široki Brijeg Tomislav Šarić could not play due to injuries, since he is our key player”, concluded Zekić.
He already knows who will be in the first team for the match against Istra 1961, the first match of the spring season. Still, there are some unanswered questions which will surely be answered during the remaining part of the preseason training campaign.
