NiKo breathed a massive sigh of relief after a draining finish to Stage 3
HLTV spoke to Nikola “NiKo” Kovač after Falcons clinched their spot in the playoffs at the IEM Cologne Major with a hard-fought double-overtime win on the deciding Anubis against Natus Vincere.
The Bosnian, barely able to speak after the draining, back-and-forth decider during which he was shouting his lungs out, gave an assessment of Falcons’ exhilarating finish and difficult run through the stage.
“It can’t go easy with us. We have to make it entertaining,” NiKo said. “Beating NAVI in such a fashion is a really good sign for us. Just very happy we can just breathe a little bit and enjoy this moment.”
“The majority of the maps were very, very tight. It was exhausting, but I really believe this will help us for the playoffs. I think we can learn a lot from these tight games,” he went on.
“We were joking with Finn a little bit because their run to the final in Budapest, every game as crazy as well, so… who knows, maybe we’ll repeat something similar. Maybe with a bit of a different outcome in the final,” he laughed.
You can watch the brief interview or read the transcript below:
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NiKo, a crazy game. Tell me about how it was mentally, because I saw in the clutch you won towards the end, you were taking a bit of a moment. Tell me about the feelings all the way through that overtime.
I was just trying to stay calm because I was getting too crazy with the shouting and I just wanted to focus and I just wanted to stay calm. The match was crazy. It can’t go easy with us. We have to make it entertaining. It’s been a very fucking long day and long game.
Just happy that our Anubis paid off in the end, honestly. We had a bit of a hesitation leaving Anubis, we actually wanted to pick it against them, but we haven’t actually shown it much in officials, so that’s why we’re like, ‘okay, it was good in practice, but officials are different.’ So I’m glad we took this risk and it paid off now.
Beating NAVI in such a fashion is a really good sign for us. Just very happy that we can just breathe a little bit and enjoy this moment, and then focus for the playoffs.
How hard has it been to go through all these games mentally? From the beginning of this Stage, everything has been a struggle, and the BetBoom loss as well.
Now that you say it, I feel like every map was like 13-11 or overtime, or at least the majority of the maps were very very tight. It was exhausting, but we knew it was gonna be hard. From the beginning against G2, it showed the our game is not where we want it to be.
I think against BetBoom we lacked, sometimes we have this issue against lower teams that we don’t act like the better team. We go down a level. We should beat them and we don’t go for the plays we usually do against bigger teams. That’s something we have really learned throughout this stage.
Yeah, it was exhausting, but I really believe this will help us for the playoffs. I think we can learn a lot from these tight games. We were joking with Finn a little bit as well because their run to the final in Budapest, every game was crazy as well, so… who knows, maybe we’ll repeat something similar.
Hoping to make some of that magic happen?
Yes, yes. Maybe a bit of a different outcome in the final (laughs).
