In the opening match of the Europa League group stage, AFC Bournemouth defeated Real Sociedad 2-1 away from home, securing a victory in their first official European match in the club's history. After the match, Scott was interviewed and discussed the team's performance in the second half, the importance of maintaining their lead, and upcoming fixtures including the Liverpool match and England squad announcements.

Alex, this must feel incredible, right? Even though you're exhausted.

Yes, very tired, I'm exhausted. It was a very tough match. This was our first European game, and we knew we'd give everything. In the end, we got the result we wanted. The last 10 minutes were a bit stressful, but everyone held their nerve and kept their concentration to secure the victory.

You really held on till the end, and your goalkeeper saved the team once or twice.

Yes. That last save—I think I was actually caught out at the far post, so I definitely owe him one. He's a top-class goalkeeper and has kept us in many matches. Of course, he made a mistake last week, but that's normal, that's football. He has a great mentality and knows how to bounce back from errors. He certainly did that today.

As a young player, I wonder if you've really thought about all of this over the past few days, or even last night. It's like a dream, isn't it?

To be honest, looking at the age of some of our players now, I don't feel that young anymore. But yes, it's certainly very exciting. The anticipation has been there since we qualified last season.

But for us, we feel we belong here. Especially given last season's performance, I think we earned our place in this competition through our performances. Today we also showed the level we can reach. Hopefully we can continue with this standard of performance.

You had a great start, didn't you? I imagine that's the beginning everyone wanted.

Yes, I think we've always been very quick to get into matches, and we did that well in that respect. But our performance in the second half wasn't particularly good, and that's definitely something we need to analyze seriously and address. Similar situations have happened in Premier League matches.

However, we knew that playing away would be difficult, so we had to get into the match quickly from the start and play aggressively. I think, especially in the first 25 minutes, we showed how much we wanted to perform well in this match. We scored in the first half.

At halftime, we also talked about how 2-0 is probably the most dangerous lead in any competition. So the second half was really very difficult. But as I just said, we held our nerve and kept our concentration to secure the victory.

I think those final moments were even more difficult because similar situations have happened in previous Premier League matches, where you've paid the price for conceding late goals.

Of course. But when we're out on the pitch, I don't think those things are constantly on our minds. But it's true, this has been a recurring situation for us in Premier League matches this season. So it feels good to hold on till the end today, not concede late goals, and get this victory.

Apart from the League Cup, this is our first win, which is very important for us. Hopefully we can carry this performance into Sunday.

Sunday's match is important too, isn't it? This is what a successful team faces when playing in Europe. Now you face Iraola and Liverpool again.

Yes, for us, playing on Thursday and then again on Sunday is obviously a new schedule. And our former manager returns, so it will be a great match. Liverpool are a very good team, and we know that very well.

But for us, it's about recovering well now and then preparing to fight again. I think we're a team that can handle this situation; we have a very good squad. If needed, we can also rotate players. In any case, we'll be ready for Sunday.

Last question—I remember Thomas Tuchel will announce the England squad tomorrow. Do you have anything to tell us? Or not?

I don't know anything. Of course, I hope to be selected. I say that every time I'm asked this question. It's always been my dream to be in the England squad. I hope to get a call-up for England. But if not, I'll keep playing the best I can. Hopefully I can make it into the England squad in the future.

Traducido por IA.

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