Falcons brought Vitality’s dreams of a third straight Major trophy crashing down in the quarter-finals of the IEM Cologne Major, surviving a scrappy series that saw all three maps go all the way to round 24.
An “exhausted” Danny “zonic” Sørensen swung by HLTV’s microphone after the match to talk about the “special” moment, which denied his former teammates the chance to equalize Astralis record of four Major titles.
“A little part of my Astralis heart was also happy that we maybe denied a little bit of the conversation about the GOAT status,” he said. “But I’m just happy, and also looking forward to tomorrow because the job is not done, we take it one game at a time, and tomorrow we are facing a very strong opponent as well.”
Watch the interview here, or listen on HLTV’s Spotify channel.
Congratulations, a crazy series, a tough one against Vitality. Talk me through how you’re feeling after that big win.
Exhausted, to be honest (laughs). It’s been a long day, it’s extremely hot in the arena. A lot of emotions; obviously, it’s always special to go up against your former team, and especially at a Major. I have so much respect for the opponent today and what they have achieved.
A little part of my Astralis heart was also happy that we maybe denied a little bit of the conversation about the GOAT status. But I’m just happy, and also looking forward to tomorrow because the job is not done, we take it one game at a time, and tomorrow we are facing a very strong opponent as well.
It is a very tough bracket, but this was the biggest test awaiting straight away. Spirit tomorrow, it’s going to be as difficult with the way they played today, so how do feel going into that matchup?
They have very good individuals, and a special guy as well that we… we need to match him. And we have the team to do that, so all in all, at this stage, it’s also about showing up on the day.
The last time we played them, communication was off, individuals were off, and this we cannot afford. I hope that we can show up tomorrow, but obviously it’s going to be a very tough game against probably the best team at the Major so far, given Stage 2 and Stage 3. But yeah, the last couple of games they also showed that they’re human and we have a chance.
You have played against Vitality a bunch, and there have been a lot of close matches. This was the first time with karrigan in there, it was a bit of a different matchup in that sense, so can you tell me what you saw that was different this time around?
It’s tough to say. We have played really good in general; the only thing that really stands out both times, with the previous lineup and also this one, is that everyone is extremely sharp. Communication-wise, individuals, they’re really listening to each other and connecting a lot in the rounds. Today it was a little bit about the anti-forces that we fucked up, but overall, I think we are just there when we play Vitality.
I think it’s because we have so much respect, so every individual on the team knows I need to perform today in order for us to beat them. This is something that is both positive and negative because when we go up against lesser good opponents, we still want to have that same mentality going in. I’m just happy that we have people showing up on all cylinders when we play them.
