“This game is an important episode in the life of the Russian national team” – Kommersant FM
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The Russian Football Union has announced the date and location of the friendly match with the Serbian national team. The meeting will take place on March 21 at Moscow’s VTB Arena. Dragan Stojkovic’s team will be the Russians’ first European opponents after being suspended from international tournaments in February 2022. For details, see Kommersant FM sports commentator Vladimir Osipov.
It has been known for a long time that Russia will play with the Serbs. But in the modern world, agreements are broken easily and naturally. Fortunately, meeting with Serbia is not the case. The date has been determined, all that remains is to set the time for the starting whistle. This game is an important episode in the life of the Russian football team during the sanction era, because Valery Karpin’s team had no opponents of this level after the suspension, notes ex-footballer Dmitry Bulykin, who himself took the field more than once as part of the national team:
“The Serbian national team is of a decent level, its players play in very good championships. This is one of the most serious rivals, where we will need to check our condition. Both the hype and the mood for this match will be serious. Everyone will want to play well. The players will want to perform at their best in this game.”
The check will really be serious. The Serbs are preparing for the European Championship, which starts in mid-June, and are unlikely to bring a backup squad to Moscow. The head coach of the Russian national team, Valery Karpin, will also not take risks against such an opponent and will call on all the strongest, football manager Yuri Belous is sure:
“Of course, we need the strongest squad to play, because it’s interesting to see not just some endless experiments, but the best players, and understand what level we are at.
Everyone wants to see a good game, but also a result, which is very important in football.”
Initially, the Russia-Serbia meeting was planned to be held in St. Petersburg. After all, in March it can still be cold in the capital, but at the Gazprom Arena there is a roof that solves any problem. But then they chose a stadium in the capital, and they did the right thing, Yuri Belous is sure: “We haven’t played in Moscow for a long time. Then, of course, there are logistics issues; there is no airport in Krasnodar. The situation is the same in Rostov. So I think it’s reasonable.”
In addition, the arena in Moscow seats a little more than 25 thousand people, which means that the stands at the match with the Serbs are unlikely to be half empty. The fans definitely miss their top opponents, and the RFU will definitely maintain interest in the game. In particular, officials plan to invite famous guests to the game, for example, Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic or retired football stars Milos Krasic, Nemanja Vidic and Bronislav Ivanovic. There will even be popular Serbian musicians.
Attracting fans to the stands is one of the important tasks of the RFU, assures its head Alexander Dyukov: “We, of course, need to strive to hold matches in front of full stands. This is really important.”
In general, in 2024 the Russian national football team should play more than eight matches. With whom, it is still unknown. There is only talk about a game with Belarus, but this is in June. For now, we are waiting to see how our team will perform against the Serbs.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
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