Grant dedicates Partizan victory to Ivanov
Reuters - Sunday 25 March 2012, 18:16
Partizan Belgrade coach Avram
Grant hailed the team's Bulgaria defender Ivan Ivanov who
decided to play in the 2-0 win at Hajduk Kula on Sunday after
his mother died less than 24 hours earlier.
"It is a huge loss for him, he was told he could miss the
game but he opted to play and showed how brave and committed to
the team he is," former Chelsea manager Grant told reporters.
"The players and staff decided to dedicate this victory to
him," said Grant, who steered the Premier League club to the
2008 Champions League final.
The win took some of the pressure off the Israeli, who came
under fire after drawing two league games against modest rivals
and suffered a 2-0 defeat by bitter city foes Red Star in the
first leg of their Serbian Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
Winger Nemanja Tomic converted a penalty and rifled in a
superb shot with the outside of his foot to keep champions and
league leaders Partizan six points clear of Red Star, who beat
visiting Borac Cacak 2-0 on Saturday.
"It's always a good feeling to win, we didn't play
particularly well but our team spirit prevailed and it's a good
result given that we missed both left-backs through injury while
two other first-choice players were half-fit," Grant said.