“Normanochka” sailed along the Volga to the oceans

At a time when Russian athletes are excluded from many international competitions, each case of their participation takes on special weight. That is why the performance of the Nizhny Novgorod “Normanochka” at the Women’s Club World Cup, held in South America, was a pleasant event.

Of course, the Volga fans could not go overseas to support the girls in a dispute with rivals from Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and the USA. But in their hometown, in the cinema hall of the Meshchersky sports and recreation complex, broadcasts were organized for mini-football fans, and it was possible to make sure that the Russian champions are competitive at the international level. Having left the group, they overcame the first barrier of the playoffs, however, they lost in the final two matches and became the fourth, losing in the “consolation final” to the Taobao da Serra club with a score of 0:1.

The final result was influenced by a combination of many factors. The new season has not yet begun, and therefore the players could not be in optimal shape. The experience of meetings with teams from the Western Hemisphere was also lacking. Plus added difficulties with acclimatization, when according to the calendar it was required to play six matches in a row.

“We flew to Brazil and forced ourselves to be respected,” Rashid Kamaletdinov, acting head coach of Normanochka, summed up in an interview with the club press service, who switched from his main job in the men’s Torpedo for such an event. “The best clubs in the world have gathered here, but as practice has shown, there has never been a one-sided game, and we always had a chance to win.”

“The team is growing! During this tournament, we got names, people appeared who will build the future of our club, and the leaders showed that they can clearly play against top Brazilian players,” Nikolai Khodov, president of the Nizhny Novgorod club, expressed confidence.

“The team of organizers of the tournament deserves the warmest words and high appreciation, who entrusted Normanochka with the honorary right to represent not only Russia, but the whole of Europe at the World Cup in competition with the strongest clubs in South and North America, once again proving that our sport has no and should not have borders,” summed up the President of the Russian Futsal Association Emil Aliyev.

Georgy Morozov.

Photo: VK.COM/NORMANOCHKA