Alfie Pond expressed pride in his team's display in the under-21s' narrow defeat to Real Madrid at Molineux on Wednesday night.
The centre-back led Wolves out for their first Premier League International Cup fixture against Madrid, and despite a resilient display, the Old Gold were undone late on as the Spanish side snatched the victory with Bruno Iglesias’ decisive free kick.
But the Wolves under-21 skipper reflected on the team’s performance, their belief in the competition, and expressed his gratitude to the nearly 4,000 fans who came out to support.
On the display against Madrid
“I think we always knew that it was going to be tough, they’ve got good players and are a strong team.
“I thought we matched them and had spells of the ball, got in their half and did have some chances in the first half, and hit the bar from my header.
“They took control of the game during the second half. We struggled to get any sort of control really, we couldn’t get the ball down and didn’t have any possession, they dominated the second half.
“I thought we defended really well even though in the end they did score from a set piece. I haven’t seen it back, but I think the referee has gotten it wrong unfortunately.”
On gaining confidence from the performance
“It gives us confidence definitely; we’ve got PSV and RB Leipzig which will be a similar test to tonight.
“We will want to keep the ball, but I’ve been involved in a few of these kinds of games now where you come up against top players who move the ball really well, but you’ve just got to defend and stay resolute, you can’t let them mentally weigh you down, I think that’s the biggest thing.
“In previous years, we faced Ajax and lost, but tonight I think we did far better than we did that night.
“Unfortunately it finished 1-0, but on another night, we could’ve kept the clean sheet and taken a point from the game.”
On playing at Molineux once again
“It’s really nice, a lot of the time we spend our games down at Kidderminster where we get around one hundred people so it’s nice to come out here in front of nearly four thousand people.
“It’s a great experience for everyone and a massive thank you to all the fans for showing up!”
Written by Scarlett Lester
