Ivan Juric was ‘moved’ by Verona’s 2-2 draw with Inter, praised ‘surprise of my career’ Sofyan Amrabat and hinted his future could well be abroad.
Hellas had taken the lead within two minutes with Darko Lazovic and wasted several chances to extend that advantage, but then went 2-1 down through two Antonio Candreva efforts.
Miguel Veloso snatched a point five minutes from time at the Stadio Bentegodi.
Ivan Juric was ‘moved’ by Verona’s 2-2 draw with Inter, praised ‘surprise of my career’ Sofyan Amrabat and hinted his future could well be abroad.
Hellas had taken the lead within two minutes with Darko Lazovic and wasted several chances to extend that advantage, but then went 2-1 down through two Antonio Candreva efforts.
Miguel Veloso snatched a point five minutes from time at the Stadio Bentegodi.
“We wanted to put in a great performance, to press them high, run risks and go for it. I was moved by my players tonight, they worked so hard, pushed beyond their limits and I am extremely proud of them,” Juric told Sky Sport Italia.
“There are players here who aren’t accustomed to a game every three days, we’ve got a lot of injury problems, but they pushed through and gave their all anyway.
“I like an attacking approach, so do the lads like Amir Rrahmani pushing forward. It means we run risks, are left one-against-one at times, but we accept that. We can’t really train at the moment, only play and recover, but the players had such determination and kept the tempo up.”
Verona have struggled a little since the restart, but continue to push for a place in the Europa League.
“It’s not that we run more metres than others, it’s how we do it. It’s not easy to do it for the whole match, but it can give a big advantage to a small club like ours,” continued the coach.
“I don’t like being defensive, getting increasingly pinned back and crushed. I get bored and irritated. I honestly prefer to risk a heavy defeat than play like that.
“I had no guarantees they would last the whole 90 minutes, but they did, and I am very proud. In fact, we had regrets that we were only 1-0 up at half-time, as we had two or three big chances to score.
“I was proud because we were 2-1 down, it was 35 degrees, they were tired, but they fought back and kept going until the equaliser.”
Amrabat has already been sold to Fiorentina for over €20m and Juric could not praise the midfielder enough.
“I have to say Amrabat is the biggest surprise of my career. He’s incredibly intelligent, loves the club and staff, it was tough to begin with because he didn’t know the language, he had this tough Moroccan personality, but he’s been a revelation and I think he can get much better too.”
Juric has not yet extended his contract with Verona and there are reports of interest from Fiorentina and Torino, but his answer was unexpected.
“Hellas have given me so much. I’d like to remain here, but if I had to change, I’d rather go abroad for a new experience, see new things.”