FASHION Sakala has revealed that he was convinced he was going to take a penalty in the Europa League final shoot-out against Eintracht Frankfurt and was devastated to be replaced by Aaaron Ramsey at the end.
However, Sakala has insisted that Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst made the right decision in putting on Ramsey despite the Juventus loan officer missing the decisive shot and the Ibrox club losing the game.
The Zambian internationalist replaced Scott Wright in the 74th minute of the game against Eintracht at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium in Seville last May.
However, Van Bronckhorst brought the striker on with three minutes remaining in extra time and put on Ramsey because he thought the experienced midfielder would be better placed to score from 12 yards.
The Welsh international was the only player not to convert his penalty. Kevin Trapp saved his attempt and Oliver Glasner’s team won 5-4 to lift their second European trophy.
Sakala spoke about the Europa League final for the first time earlier this week as he looked ahead to the start of the new season and confessed that it had been a difficult experience.
“To be honest, it feels like two days ago,” he said. “It’s one of the things you can’t get out of your head. It was nice to get to the final, but you can’t help but think, ‘What if we win it?’
“That (being a substituted substitute) was difficult and obviously very frustrating. But I took it as it was because I respect the coach’s decision.
“To be honest, no (I thought he was going to be replaced). I thought I’d play the full game. I was one of the players who took the penalties, so I didn’t even think about going out.
“I’m one of the players on the list to take penalties, so I was so sure that even if the game was for them, I’d be there because I’m on that list.
“But when the coach decided to make the change, I respected it. In fact, I thought maybe we’d get the result because of the changes in it. He made some changes to the games when we were down and then he got the result.
“So I was thinking maybe there’s something he wasn’t clear on and he was thinking, ‘We can turn this around and get the result.’
“I think the strategy was good. He always makes changes that affect the game, so it’s a bit difficult. It just wasn’t our day, but the changes he made weren’t the reason we lost the game.
“Because it looks like it was penalties, oh, the player who came on missed the penalty, but for me it just wasn’t our day.
Sakala added, “I felt like he made the right decision. I didn’t look at the situation negatively just because the player missed the penalty. I was also thinking what if he scores and we win the cup? Obviously, that would have been very nice.
“But, yes, as a player, you always want to play. The desire is to play each and every game but at the same time respect the coach’s decision. When he makes some changes, you have to respect him.
“I wish I did (take a penalty). But I think he (Ramsey) was the right person to take it on. It was unfortunate that it happened like this and it failed. But he was the right person to take it because we always have the list of players who are going to take penalties”.
Source: www.thenational.scot