John Arne Riise apologised to the fans and his teammates for his howler. “I know the fans are against me and feel terrible about this.”
The Roma defender slipped under no pressure to gift Shakhtar Donetsk their third goal in the 3-2 result this evening.
“We played fairly well and I made an incredible mistake on the third goal, but I think we can win in Ukraine,” Riise told the Italian media.
John Arne Riise apologised to the fans and his teammates for his howler. “I know the fans are against me and feel terrible about this.”
The Roma defender slipped under no pressure to gift Shakhtar Donetsk their third goal in the 3-2 result this evening.
“We played fairly well and I made an incredible mistake on the third goal, but I think we can win in Ukraine,” Riise told the Italian media.
“I know that the fans are against me now and I feel terrible about this. That is football, but this was truly a negative match for me.
"I was going to hit the ball long, but then I thought about it a moment more and lost my balance. I really don't know how I did it. I've had a similar experience with an own goal in the semi-final for Liverpool. I feel just sick, even physically.
“I hope the supporters can understand that I always give my all. I apologise to them. I went off at half-time because I made a mistake.”
In the second half Jeremy Menez managed to get one back, but it's still an absolute mountain to climb if Roma want to qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals.
“We are physically in good shape, but concede too many goals. We're not playing the way we did last season. Nonetheless, I think we can win in Ukraine.”