ROME (AA) - Turkey's Fenerbahce football team on Thursday qualified for semi-finals in the UEFA Europa League after a 1-1 draw in Rome that earned the Istanbul side a 3-1 win on aggregate against Italy's Lazio in the second leg of quarter-final.
Speaking at a press conference after the game with Lazio, Fenerbahce coach Aykut Kocaman said he was very happy on behalf of football in Turkey, Fenerbahce Club, his team and on his behalf.
"Lazio constantly played offense on Thursday after they had lost the first leg 2-0 in Istanbul. They wanted to score the first goal and played to advance to semi-finals. Our aim was to protect the advantage we had gained in Istanbul. The first half hour went just as we had planned. The rest of the game was full of problems. All of our players displayed the will to advance to the semi-finals," Kocaman stated.
Also speaking to reporters after Thursday's game with Fenerbahce, Lazio coach Vladimir Petkovic said he congratulated Fenerbahce for their success.
"I do hope Fenerbahce advance to the final game in UEFA Europa League and show their strength. The score we had attained in Istanbul caused the main problem for us. I think that we played a good game tonight. Had we played like this in Istanbul, we could have had a better chance to advance to the semi-finals," Petkovic said.
UEFA will make a draw for the semi-finals of the Europa League at 13.00 hours (Turkish local time) on Friday.
Stadium: Rome Olympic Stadium
Referees: Pavel Kralovec (Czech Republic), Roman Slysko (Slovakia), Martin Wilczek (Czech Republic)
Lazio: Marchetti, Biava, Ciani, Cana, Radu, Hernanes, Ledesma, Lulic, Candreva, Ederson, Kozak
Fenerbahce: Volkan Demirel, Gokhan Gonul, Yobo, Egemen Korkmaz, Ziegler, Selcuk Sahin, Meireles, Kuyt, Cristian, Caner Erkin, Webo
Scorers: 60 min Lulic (Lazio), 73 min Caner Erkin (Fenerbahce)
