The match against the Portuguese national team, Aleksadra Borodyuk, held brilliantly - it’s bad to dream of the best. Honestly, for a very long time I did not have to see such a football performed by at least some of our team, whether it be a club or a national team. Coach Borodyuk, who had been hiding his personality for so long and successfully, finally came to the fore. The youth team of Russia suddenly got a style - recognizable, vibrant and, no less important, very adequate. But adequacy is a very rare quality for our football, our society, our life. Adding emotions, a moral upsurge and a little luck to him, the Russian youth team beat one of the strongest teams on the continent.
Before the game, Alexander Borodyuk had to patch holes in the composition, and, nevertheless, the coach managed to find an almost optimal combination of players. We have players - many youth players are in good standing at their clubs, but for a long time it was not possible to create a team from them. Left without an injured Bazhenov, Borodyuk seconded Spartak Torbinsky, who was supposed to help Evgeny Savin from Amkar, to attack. But most of all he had to be wise in defense - a couple of Cyril Nababkin in the center was made by Ivan Taranov, a midfielder “by education”. On the other hand, the nominal defender Shishkin moved to center field.
The Portuguese national team got rid of Ricardo Quarezma in this qualifying round, who consumed all the game oxygen with his terrible egocentrism. However, the old Portuguese problems did not go away, and the Russian team masterfully used the national features of the opponent. Individually, the Portuguese players are very strong, but at the same time, they are not psychologically stable, they are prone to hysteria, and they, in truth, do not like to “plow”. Guests enjoyed a medium-slow pace, and it’s just wonderful that the Russians did not follow the opponent’s lead. From the first minutes they began to put pressure on all sections of the field, and did not let the Portuguese go until the very end of the game.
The Russian team spent the worst segment after scoring a quick goal. It was evident that the owners themselves did not expect such a development of events and had a poor idea of what to do with all this. The Portuguese needed to score a return goal and create a few more moments so that the Russians came to their senses. And here the opponent made a mistake - the guests did not feel how the game was slowly but surely falling into other hands. First of all, the Russians took the ball, but the Portuguese entertained themselves with the illusion that they themselves had given it to the owners - let them ride it, and we put a counterattack at the right time. And the Russians turned on the pressure, figured out how to play with the Portuguese leaders Moutinho and Mashado, they began to act in advance. And most importantly, they crushed the slightly pampered Portuguese at a pace. And at the end of the first half, Portugal remained in the minority - for two yellow cards the defender Pereira was removed from the field.
The Russians realized the numerical advantage masterfully, in an adult way. Of course, another quick goal helped a lot, but it was noticeable that Borodyuk’s team again made a conscious bet on him. And further - courage went, but what’s good - concentration and composure remained with him. The Portuguese, completely losing sight of the ball, began to rage, get nervous, make mistakes - not only did the production shell be taken away, they also mocked it. Coach Cauceiro started making replacements and never hit. When the Russians led 3: 1, there was a fear that they would not go any further, stop at this, very good result. But Borodyuk understood that the opponent needed to be destroyed here and now, since in Portugal there will be another day and another match. Until the last minutes, ours continued to attack and scored the much-needed fourth goal. And 4: 1 and 3: 1 are not the same thing.
Of course, even such a victory does not guarantee the Russian national team an easy life in Portugal - anything happens in youth team matches. Young players are especially characterized by differences in form and mood - today everything is fine, and tomorrow the team will not know how many eyes there are. Nevertheless, the Russian team has every chance to extend its life cycle until the summer of 2007 - we have not been to the European Youth Championships for a long time. And the Russian football team never made its way to the Olympics - just as they won the 88th gold in T-shirts with the USSR inscription, we live in complete nostalgia. Perhaps this time it will not work, but the process, as they say, has begun.
Kirill DEMENTYEV