West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic had nothing but praise for his players saying they had 'character and confidence' when it came to winning a penalty shoot-out against Birkirkara in the Europa League.
The Hammers went through 5-3 on penalties after Mark Noble, Mauro Zarate, Aaron Cresswell, Joey O'Brien and Diego Poyet scored all five from the spot kick.
Despite falling behind early on and losing James Tomkins to a red card on the stroke of half-time, the Hammers players refused to give in and showed plenty of character to still win the tie after the game finished 1-1 on aggregate at the end of extra time.
Bilic said: “The most important thing is that we are through. They started better and they were very aggressive. But after they scored we took control of the game.
“We had a man sent off and we had to adjust to that. But the guys showed their spirit and commitment and the most important thing is that we got no injuries and we have got through.
“When it came to the penalties anything could happen, but they were very confident when I asked them.
“That is good because I have seen the character and confidence in their eyes. They were all brilliantly taken. We now go to Romania and it will be the same kind of atmosphere.”
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