DORUS DAZE
De Vries claims second goal was a ‘knuckle ball’ but keeper’s calamity leaves fans scratching their heads
DORUS DE VRIES had a fitting name for the swerving sucker punch that delivered Celtic’s knockout blow.
The Hoops keeper got caught out by what he calls a “knuckle ball”.
The horrible dipping rocket that can leave goalies looking daft as they swish their gloves at fresh air.
De Vries insisted there wasn’t much he could have done to keep out Zenit’s crucial second goal as the Parkhead men were sent crashing out of the Europa League in Russia last night.
A fair few fingers were pointed at the Dutchman but the former Nottingham Forest No.1 was convinced he made a decent fist of dealing with the wicked drive from Daler Kuzyaev.
It was a knuckle ball but it felt more like a knuckle sandwich.
De Vries said: “I don’t know if you are familiar with the term ‘knuckle ball’. Search for it online and you can see what happens with the flight of the ball. Unfortunately it’s so difficult for a keeper.
“There is no spin on the ball, it just moves a little bit to the right. And so initially I moved to the right and then it moves left at the last moment. And with that pace on the ball you can only hope to get a good hand to it.
“But it was so quick and it makes it so hard. I knew this could happen because they have a few players who can hit the ball like that.
“It is difficult. If the ball keeps its flight or keeps going right then it’s fine because you are already moving that way.
“But if the ball moves after you step right and it goes across you, you don’t have the time to react. It’s a goalkeeper’s nightmare really. It makes the job so difficult.”
De Vries was devastated as Celtic slumped out with a whimper. The manner of the defeat was even more painful as Zenit where gifted three goals on a miserable night for the Scottish champions.
The Russians were decent but didn’t look world beaters.
However, the Parkhead men never looked like they believed they could see the job through and suffered a nightmare start going behind in the first seven minutes.
The night went from bad to worse as the Hoops were caught dozing in defence. The first came from a corner, de Vries was bamboozled for the second and the killer third was a mess from start to finish.
De Vries said: “I am gutted. It was so disappointing, especially when you think about how well we played in the first leg. We created loads of chances, didn’t concede and a 1-0 win gave us a really good chance to progress but unfortunately that didn’t happen.
“It’s really sore. We will have to review it together. There are so many things. The early goal gave them a boost but we were still in it.
“We knew an away goal would have done for us. We needed to keep pushing. Then we go 2-0 down but
we’re still in the tie because it did not really change anything. But the disappointing thing was we just didn’t create any chances, not like we did last week. That made it harder for us.”
De Vries described the defeat as a painful lesson.
The problem is Celtic seem to have had a good few of them in recent times.
Lessons need to be learned but the Dutchman is convinced the side are making strides in Europe.
He pointed to reaching the Champions League two seasons on the spin and getting beyond Christmas in the Europa League as signs of progress.
He said: “These are learning moments. We are a young team and there is a lot of talent in there, they are hungry as well. We are knocked out but there is progress. This year we stepped up and were still in Europe after the Champions League.
“Unfortunately we are out but there is progression there.
“We have to improve and keep going. There has been a lot of learning experiences but we need to keep pushing.
“We have to believe in ourselves as a team. We have some big games coming up, we are still in the Cup so we look forward to these challenges.”
Celtic are in for a challenging few days. The squad will remain in Russia this morning before returning to Scotland in the evening in a bid to prevent any European hangover.
The Premiership picture has been altered after a couple of domestic slip-ups in recent weeks to Kilmarnock and St Johnstone.
The gap at the top is down to nine points – and it could be six by close of play tomorrow before Celts face Aberdeen on Sunday.
De Vries insisted the Hoops will not allow the Euro agony to spill over into their Premiership campaign and they will be switched on for Pittodrie.
He said: “It is a big few weeks for us. The gap could be smaller but it could also be bigger. That’s the way we look at it because we are a positive group.
“We have a tough schedule but we have always looked at the next challenge as the biggest one.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s Partick Thistle, Rangers or Aberdeen. It’s the next one that counts. We need to focus on Aberdeen away.”