'It's like breaking a mental barrier' - Herrera

by Ayrton Galea - 25th July 2016

Edward Herrera believes that Birkirkara FC's historical qualification for the third qualifying round in European Competitions broke a mental barrier for Maltese Football while describing his goal as the icing on the cake following the return from a long-term injury.

It has been a seven months struggle for the twenty-ninth year old player, but in his first-eleven start, Herrera played a superb match, in an unusual forward position rounded off by an outstanding goal, that put the Stripes on the path of a historical qualification.

We opened this interview by asking Edward about his the return to the first-team. “Honestly, when it became apparent during training that I was going to start the match as a striker, I thought the coach was a bit crazy! I hadn't started a match in over 7 months and I haven't played in that position for a very long time.”

“But I was also very surprised with the reaction of my team mates who were very encouraging and gave me a lot of confidence with their belief in me. So I am very grateful to them for how they helped me prepare for the match. I felt fit, and for this I must thank our physical trainer Nikola, and I was eager to take this opportunity. I didn't want to let the team down. I was really focused 100%.”

About scoring a goal he said, “The goal was just the icing on the cake, an extra bonus of sorts. For me it represented all the hard work that I went through before and after my operation to return to first team football. It was an amazing feeling and I just went wild with jubilation. I think the team changed a bit its mentality at that point in the game too, as Hearts needed to score three goals to qualify.”

The Stripes overcame the challenge of Hearts in fashion following a very disciplined tactical performance. Herrera commented, “If you look at the two matches, you can see that Hearts were superior in possession and kept us for long stretches pegged back. But we were happy with that as long as they didn't penetrate our defence. We surprised them in the second leg by playing with two up front and in the end, we took our chances well and had two goals to show for. Having said that, luck also played its part as Hearts had a goal disallowed, hit the post on at least three occasions, and even missed a penalty. But that's football.

He continued by saying, “The historic qualification means a lot. It's like breaking a mental barrier and has opened up our minds that it can be done with hard work and determination. Nothing comes easy and we've been training hard for over six weeks now to be as prepared as possible.”

Birkirkara's next opponents are the strong Russian side Krosnodar FC, who last year reached the group-stage of the UEFA Europa League. Edward told us, “They are definitely a very strong and experienced outfit whereas we are the newcomers. For us it's going to be a huge learning curve and we are really looking forward to playing another two European matches rather than going on a training camp or playing friendly matches. We're going to prepare well, give it our best and most importantly enjoy the experience. Playing in Scotland in front of 14,000 supporters was already amazing and we've earned another match in similar conditions.”

Edward concluded this interview with a message to the supporters, “First of all, I hope that we will have a record number of members joining our club. I am sure that our supporters will pack the Hibernians stadium for our next match and I hope that they make a lot of noise. It is a real boost to the players hearing the supporters chanting during the match. Those supporters who came to Hearts know what an amazing atmosphere there was and how the crowd went wild every time they had a chance. They didn't have a band, speaker megaphones or any flares… only their vocal chords! We need your support.”

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