It was another dramatic European night under the lights on Tuesday night at Easter Road, as the wee Hibees hosted German Giants Borussia Dortmund in front of 7,700 supporters in the UEFA Youth League Play-Off.
The wee Hibees took the lead through Jacob Blaney in the first half, but were pegged back in the second half and Dortmund equalised from the penalty spot with 20 minutes from time. As the clock ticked into the 90th minute, Dortmund struck again and despite a late flurry of chances for the Hibees, we bowed out of the competition.
Speaking to Hibs TV after the match, Kean was defiant in his post-match reaction and ultimately incredibly proud of his player’s effort.
“We are all massively proud, not just of the performance tonight but the whole campaign.
“On reflection, we are proud of all the players that started tonight, all the subs and everyone that has been involved in what has been a really top campaign.
“You can tell by the celebrations and reaction from Dortmund staff at full-time how ecstatic they were because they knew how difficult the game was.
“We gave it a good go, but unfortunately we couldn’t get it over the line.”
The Hibees got off to a perfect start and went toe-to-toe with the German giants throughout the 90-minutes as we looked to soak up pressure and hit them on the break.
“We wanted to stifle them, we wanted to frustrate them, we played really well on the counter-attack. They have real quality in their side, their front unit and midfield are very dynamic but we kept them relatively quiet.
“We probably won’t stop thinking about some of the chances we had, and the counter-attack we had to go 2-0 up. If we do go 2-0 up we are probably in the next round.
“We had a lot of top performances out there tonight. It is very difficult to pick a man of the match because there were so many standouts. That’s great for the fans to see a glimpse of the future and see what some of these young players can do and bring to the Club."
The result brings to an end our memorable UEFA Youth League journey and despite the overwhelming feeling of disappointment in the dressing room after the match, Kean insists there is plenty to be proud of.
“It doesn’t matter the score, this group of lads fight for each other, they back each other up, keep their structure and discipline and if you do that you are always in a game.
“We will reflect on certain elements of the game and look at bits where we could be a bit better, but overall on the whole campaign each and every player deserves massive amounts of credit and can be proud of their commitment."
