JEDDAH, 11 December 2004 — Dismissed Al-Ittihad coach Croatian Evitch blamed the media for inflaming passions that led to his sacking. He defended himself and the decisions he made in Ittihad’s 3-1 defeat by a Korean team in the first leg of the Asian Champions League final.
Evitch was speaking to Arriyadiyah sports daily in an interview at the King Abdulaziz International Airport hours before departing for his home country.
In the no-holds-barred interview, Evitch explained the main reasons why he was fired soon after the disappointing match in Jeddah.
The coach blamed Saudi newspapers for the negative writeups about him that contributed in the souring of relations between him and the players. Evitch said Saudi newspapers are strange in that reporters do not write objectively and write only about their favorite team.
He said it was not fair that all the blame was put on the coach adding players, team officials and fans are also to blame. In defending his decisions, Evitch said: “I did not play defensively or offensively. I was balancing the match but the players did not follow my instructions”.
Evitch noted had the players played with the same heart and spirit they displayed in Korea the team would not have lost the game in Jeddah. He said his assistant, Darghan, who led Ittihad in the return leg in Korea, had nothing to do with the win because he did not wave a magic wand. The players are the ones to be credited for winning the match.
Evitch said his dismissal as a coach of Ittihad had been expected and precipitated by the attacks from the media which had reacted in a strange way. If the coach won the Jeddah match, the newspapers would write favorably about him. He said that the coaches are the first to go when players lose games.
Evitch said he will take a much needed rest before taking on any coaching offers.
