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Shakhter Karagandy manager defends sheep-sacrificing ritual Celtic face Shakhter Karagandy sheep sacrifice before Parkhead match
(about 4 hours later)
The Shakhter Karagandy manager Viktor Kumykov expects the Kazakh club's sheep-sacrificing ritual to continue before their Champions League play-off second-leg tie against Celtic at Parkhead. The Shakhter Karagandy manager, Viktor Kumykov, expects his club to repeat their sheep-sacrificing ritual before the Champions League play-off second-leg tie against Celtic at Parkhead.
The Kazakh champions caused a stir when they killed a sheep at the Astana Arena the day before last Tuesday's 2-0 first-leg win over the Hoops. Animal rights group Peta expressed its outrage in a strongly-worded letter to Uefa president urging Michel Platini to punish Shakhter. The Kazakh champions caused a stir when they killed a sheep at the Astana Arena the day before last Tuesday's 2-0 first-leg win over Celtic. The animal rights group Peta expressed its outrage in a strongly-worded letter to Uefa, demanding that Shakhter be punished.
Kumykov's pre-match press conference at Celtic Park on Tuesday afternoon took a surreal turn when the subject was broached. Speaking through an interpreter, the Russian said: "All I can say is that every team and every club has its own pre-match traditions and rituals. Celtic must have their own. We will try to respect our traditions and those traditions have been in place even before we came to the club." Kumykov's pre-match press conference at Celtic Park on Tuesday afternoon took a surreal turn when the subject was broached. Speaking through an interpreter, the Russian said: "All I can say is that every team and every club has its traditions and rituals. Celtic must have their own. We will try to respect our traditions and those traditions have been in place even before we came to the club."
Asked if the ritual would take place, he replied, "Possibly, yes." Then, when asked where he planned to get the sheep, Kumykov, to laughter, replied: "As far as we know in Scotland the agriculture is very developed so it shouldn't be an issue to find a sheep." Asked if the ritual would take place, he said: "Possibly, yes." Then, when asked where he planned to get the sheep, Kumykov, to laughter, replied: "As far as we know in Scotland the agriculture is very developed so it shouldn't be an issue to find a sheep."
The Shakhter manager, though, played down the effects the pre-match ritual had had on the first game in Kazakhstan. "Of course this tradition may have certain psychological impact on players that can help them to relax before the game," he said. "But obviously, what really matters is on the football pitch, the game and the final score and you know we scored twice in the first-leg and Celtic failed to score, that's what really matters." Neil Lennon has accused Kumykov of over-confidence after he said they would "score a pair of goals" in Glasgow, although Kumykov backtracked by saying his words had been "misinterpreted".
Shakhter are on the cusp of becoming the first club from Kazakhstan to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League and a place in the group stages of the Europa League is already guaranteed. Kumykov, though, tried to play down the pressure of taking the final step to join Europe's elite. "I think it is very dangerous and it can always come back to bite you," the Celtic manager said. "This is a two-game tie and it is disrespectful to my team as well. I don't need to motivate my players but if they want to keep talking the way they are doing then that's fine. We know we have to win by three goals. If they score we need to score four, if they score two – according to their manager – then we need to score five."
"There is an additional pressure on my shoulders, I feel that but it doesn't have to be Champions League," he said. "Looking at the first game in the cold light of day, there is no doubt that we were the better team and created the better chances. We have 90 minutes to score two goals. Regardless, we could score the first goal in the 75th minute or 80th minute and that would still give us 10 or 15 minutes to get another one. There is no rush on our part to come out all guns blazing and try to force the early goal. So we will let the game take its natural course, as long we have control of the game that is the most important thing."
"It won't be a tragedy for us if we don't qualify to the Champions League group stages." Lennon insists he was encouraged rather than frustrated by Celtic's performance in Astana, where they failed to convert a series of chances while giving away two cheap goals.
"There are deficiencies in the way Shakhter play, we exposed them in the first game but couldn't take advantage of it," said Lennon, who gave a firm "no" to one Kazakh journalist who asked if he would step down if Celtic fail to get through.
"So what we have to do is take advantage of the opportunities that we create. I need my players to play their best and if they play their best then I think they will win this tie. We know we had by far and away the bulk of possession and by far and away the bulk of the best chances over there.
"That gave me a lot of encouragement rather than frustration. We know we can create chances against this team and hopefully at home we can take those opportunities.
"It may be a frustrating evening, so we have to be patient. We might even concede a goal, that means we have to score four. But that is the reality of the game."
While planning what would be a commendable if far from unlikely turnaround in the tie, Lennon remains riled by accusations of complacency before the trip to Kazakhstan.
"I have plenty of respect for Shakhter," Lennon said. "They play with a lot of heart, spirit and organisation and have certain high-calibre players. What annoys me is that people are throwing accusations that we have underestimated Shakhter. We certainly didn't. We did all our preparation work as best we could. Now we have to rectify what isn't an insurmountable situation."