“Those who watched the game from the stands definitely liked the final score of 8:0” - Kommersant FM
Russian national football team coach Valery Karpin would like to play against the Cuban national team again, but on the opponent’s territory. He spoke about this after the Russia-Cuba match in Volgograd ended with a score of 8:0. All eight goals were scored by different players of the Russian team. This friendly match was the last of the season for the national team. Among the spectators of the match at the Volgograd Arena was Kommersant FM sports commentator Vladimir Osipov.
Criticizing the football team has long become commonplace, even national pastime. It’s curious, but before the match with Cuba, critical arrows were flying towards the team long before the starting whistle. Our players, they say, don’t want to play for the national team, there is no motivation, and no one needs an opponent from the second hundred in the FIFA rating. In general, it is difficult to argue with such arguments, because everything seems to be on point.
Only the right location and competent PR led to the fact that more than 40 thousand people gathered in the stands of the Volgograd Arena.
Plus a live broadcast on the federal channel and, of course, many representatives of various media in the thick of the action. Looking at the stands and the whole surroundings in general, it was impossible to say that no one around was interested in what was happening.
And the athletes, with the support of the fans, started in such a way that the sky became hot. The players weren’t just trying to score, they were trying to play beautifully. Alexander Golovin and Ivan Oblyakov gave such jokes that the fans applauded. And Alexander Silyanov even tried to score through himself in the fall. As a result, Cuba scored three goals in the first half.
Daler Kuzyaev, who was in the starting lineup, spoke about what was happening in the stands, not without admiration: “The atmosphere was great. They drove us in the first minutes, it’s very nice to play in such a stadium. “Thank you to the fans that, despite the weather, they came and supported us, we appreciate it.”
In the second half there were substitutions. Since the match was official, only six could be done. Karpin used everything: Alexander Sobolev and Alexander Mostovoy were in front this time, the team eventually scored five more goals, and Sergei Pinyaev missed a penalty in the 85th minute.
The final score of 8:0 definitely pleased those who watched the game from the stands. Well, head coach Valery Karpin, as befits a mentor, was not happy with everything: “I didn’t like the ending of the first half. Yes, they scored the third goal, there were seven or eight minutes left. I didn’t like those seven or eight minutes, for example.”
By the way, after the final whistle, the famous song about Valera began to play throughout the stadium. Karpin didn’t like this either: “I think it’s unnecessary to single out someone. There are Valera, Petit, Vasya. I don’t think it’s right to focus on this. It’s better to focus on the whole team, rather than just one person.”
So neither the coaching staff nor the players felt any euphoria after the match.
As for the opponent, even Cuba provides an opportunity to implement coaching skills, defender Alexander Silyanov told Kommersant FM: “In principle, we played in training what we would do even, maybe not with Cuba, but with other opponents, because the national team there was almost no pressure on this country. We trained pressing there and something else.”
Despite the brilliant victory, there will most likely not be any less speculation about why we need such matches. But the experience of Volgograd has shown that with a good attitude, Karpin’s team, like a professional theater troupe, can tour the regions and even sell out stadiums. And in the current situation this is already good.
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