Casey: It was an amazing performance from the team
A jubilant Benji Casey spoke to Palace TV+ following the young Eagles' 2-0 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach in our must-win International Cup clash at a blustery VBS Community Stadium, reflecting on the performance, his goal and progression to the quarter-finals.
I want to show what I can do against these European teams
—Benji Casey
Casey reflected on the performance: “I think it was an amazing performance from the team. We worked hard as a team as well.
“The communication was good, we competed for second balls and we looked out for each other as well. At the end of the day, football is a team game – it’s not individual – and I think what we did today was play as a team, and we got the result that we wanted.”
“So yeah, it was an overall great performance from the team.”
With five minutes of the half remaining, Palace doubled their lead. Dylan Reid’s free-kick was initially headed clear, but after a series of aerial challenges the ball dropped into the path of Walker-Smith, who cleverly hooked it over the Gladbach backline.
Casey reacted sharply, meeting it with a sweet half-volley from close range to claim his third goal of the competition.
He talked us through the goal amid the extremely testing conditions: “I just knew that when the ball came to Charlie – he’s been playing with me for quite a while now – and he knows that when it comes to those positions, I always like to run off the back of defenders.
“It was a nice little pass from him, and I just had to gauge the height of the ball. Once the ball came down, I was like, ‘I’m just going to hit it,’ and I hit it perfectly and it went in. So I was just happy – it was good.”
Casey boasts an impressive three goals and one assist in the International Cup group stages.
On what he loves about the competition: “Just playing against different teams from different places is a great experience, and I want to show what I can do against those teams.
“I’ve shown that by scoring three goals, so it’s been great. I love it, I love the competition, and I’m happy that we’re going through to the knockout stages now, so it was good.”
It was mentally draining for everyone, but we got the win
—Benji Casey
Having scored twice before the interval, Palace had roughly 60 minutes to protect their two-goal lead – and with it their place in the knockout stages, knowing a win by two or more goals was required.
On how physically and mentally demanding that proved: “Yeah, it was mad. Everyone was working harder, and everyone was so tired because the first half took a lot out of us. We knew that Borussia Mönchengladbach were going to come with passion and power, and we knew that was going to happen.
“But as I said, we worked as a team and we just prevented them from scoring. We knew that we had to win by two goals, but we didn’t really think about that too much. It was just all about winning and working as a team, and we did it perfectly in the second half.
“So it was mentally draining for everyone, but we got the win, so it was good.”
We’re in a good moment right now
—Benji Casey
The result followed Friday’s 2-1 Premier League 2 victory over Fulham, which ended the Cottagers’ 13-match unbeaten run.
On how strong a position the U21s find themselves in: “Obviously, we beat Fulham, who were on a 13-game unbeaten run in Premier League 2, and now we’ve gone through to the knockout stages where some people might have written us off.
“I think we’re in great momentum. We’re in a good moment right now, winning games, and I think the only thing we need to do is just continue.
“Don’t slack off – just keep working hard and keep getting results against big teams like Fulham and Borussia Mönchengladbach, which we did. So just keep going – that’s it, really.”