Viktoria Plzen of Czech Republic attacker, Ubong Ekpai is relishing his side’s qualification for the UEFA Europa League, which he described as a good thing for his team.
Though the ex-Akwa United of Uyo star admitted he wanted to reach the knock-out stage of the UEFA Champions League, footballlive.ng reports that he is taking consolation from the fact that they edged CSKA Moscow of Russia to book a spot in the second-tier competition.
Though CSKA won 3-0 away to Real Madrid on the same night, Ekpai’s side made the best of home advantage against AS Roma, winning 2-1 against the Italian visitors to pull through.
In reaction, Ekpai admitted it was a historic night for Plzen and Czech football as a whole, adding that they can now only work harder to justify the achievement.
Despite staying on the bench for all 90 minutes of Wednesday’s match, Ekpai said he is delighted at the opportunity to play in the Europa League from the victory, and hopes the team will do well in the competition.
Ekpai said: “We hoped to progress to next stage of Champions League but that was not the case,
“It was not an easy game as expected. Everybody involved in the game did well to win.
“We are very happy with the victory. Now we have qualified for the Europa League, which is a very good thing for us.”
