The Sepsi OSK hero didn’t just listen to his instincts

Since the final of the Romanian Cup was broadcast by M4 Sport, many people in Hungary were also able to close their hearts with the team captain of the Triszék team, the hero of the cup final against Universitatae Cluj, Roland Niczuly. The goalkeeper saved his goal with several confident saves in regular time, but he emerged as the main character in the penalty shootout, where he saved three 11-man shots and won Sepsi OSK’s second cup trophy in its history.

“Many people patted me on the back, I got over the praise, but in football, victory and defeat never depend on one person. Sometimes the goalkeeper helps his team, other times the team pulls the goalkeeper out of trouble.”In any case, I am happy that everything went well and that we defended our Romanian Cup title” – said the goalkeeper, who was caught up by the MOL Team in the dentist’s waiting room, happily but a little nervously.

It’s not luck, it’s preparation!

The goalkeeper is usually the hero of the winning penalty shootout, but this also has levels. The goalkeeper, born in Kézdivásárhely, placed himself on the highest shelf by the fact that this time he had to stand in goal twice knowing that if he did not protect the next 11, his team would lose the final.

“The team wasn’t prepared to take penalties, we wanted to win the final in normal time, but we and the goalkeeper coach nevertheless mapped the opponent very carefully. We had two hours of video analysis, so I pretty much knew who liked to shoot penalties where. Then, of course, it didn’t turn out the way we planned either.”

“Not just because I took the 11 for two players we didn’t know anything about, because they didn’t take many penalties in the league this year” – explained the goalkeeper with a wide smile. “In these cases, I listened to my instincts and fortunately my instincts did not deceive me. I am very happy that we won the Romanian Cup again!”

Let’s just say it was weak

Niczuly was quite critical of his team’s play, and it’s hard to argue with him, since Sepsi OSK – which competes in the upper house playoffs of the championship – met a lower house team, yet in several cases only luck and the goalpost saved the Szeklers from scoring.

“You have to be honest: unfortunately, we played a poor match, we couldn’t do what we were prepared for for 120 minutes. There were no signs of it, we confidently but humbly prepared for the final, we knew what we wanted to do, but somehow it didn’t come out of us.”That’s football, unfortunately you can’t prepare for the pressure in the final in training, and a final is always a special, unpredictable battle.”

The goalkeeper said that the whole season was a bit as hectic as the cup final, but Sepsi OSK came out well in the key moments, so it cannot be said that the season was not successful.

“We wanted to get into the upper house play-offs and defend our Romanian Cup trophy, and since we managed to achieve both goals, it would be hard to be dissatisfied. It is true, however, that we performed poorly in several periods, we did not always play as we expected of ourselves, but in the end only the result matters, and we cannot be dissatisfied with those. All the more because we got to Europe again,” Niczuly added with a smile.

“We lost in the first round two years ago, and one year ago in the second, so now in principle we should reach the third round,” said the goalkeeper, laughing. “We played in the cup final for the third time, we won for the second time, and last year we also won the Super Cup. We are a leading team and we already have enough European routines that we know what it takes to be successful on the international stage. But that’s still a long way off, now we’re going to party on the main square in Szengyörgyi – added the hero of the cup final.