Tremmel reflects on Euro loss

30th August


Gerhard Tremmel felt the Swans failed to hit top gear in Romania as they booked their place in the Europa League Group Stages despite a 2-1 defeat to Petrolul Ploiesti.
The Swans were placed in Group A along with Valencia, Kuban Krasnodar and St Gallen in Friday's draw in Monaco.
Michael Laudrup's side progressed after seeing off Petrolul 6-3 on aggregate, with the return leg played in front of a vocal home crowd at the Ilie Oana.
Substitute Roland Lamah had equalised for the Swans with his first goal for the club, but Petrolul sealed victory with seven minutes remaining.
And Tremmel, who was back in the starting line-up ahead of Michel Vorm for the tie, said: "It was exactly what I expected. People there are very fanatic, there's a great atmosphere in the stadium and I knew that it was going to be a very hard game.
"If you are not playing at 100 per cent against any team in the European League you can lose and that's what happened to us.
"We still had a few good chances but I don't know if we deserved anything more than what we got.
"I didn't have any doubt that we would go through to the Group Stages but it was harder work than expected."
Tremmel also had the distraction of a laser pen shining in his face throughout the game from the fanatical home fans.
"There's always people trying to disturb you whenever possible and it's a nasty thing," he said.
"I think it's nothing you should see in the stadium. But it was all right for me, it didn't bother me too much."
"Yes, when you're set up for a corner or whatever and then somebody is pointing a laser in your face and it's quite annoying.
"But you have to deal with it in the moment and try to concentrate on the game."