FOOTBALL
International football victories are still rare for Russia. All the more pleasant was the triumph of the national team at the UEFA European Under-17 Championship . Moreover, the team was led by Igor Kolyvanov, one of the “lost generation” players, who managed to transfer his football ambitions to the coaching plane without splashing. Kolyvanov gave a master class of motivation of the wards to matches with favorites and outsiders - our guys gathered after a devastating defeat from the Spaniards, scored a labor goal for the Germans and coped with nerves in the final penalty shoot-out. Victory in the most important tournament won not on the class, but on the character - it’s not shameful to start any football resume from such a line. However, the coaching also.
BASKETBALL
Winning four continental club club tournaments out of six possible - is this not the dream of any country? CSKA became the best in the Euroleague , Moscow Dynamo in the ULEB Cup , Ural Great in the FIBA Challenge Cup , and women's Spartak from the Moscow Region in the FIBA Eurocup . Add here “Khimki”, who stopped one step away from the FIBA men's Eurocup, and VBM-SSAU, who lost in the final of the women's Euroleague. And the autumn victory of CSKA over the Clippers - in the same pocket. The championship of Russia is called by many the strongest in the Old World, while it is more correct to use the word "richest". Officials can cheerfully report on successes, but they will not be able to belittle the merits of Papaloukas, Smodis, Chatman, Papadopoulos and Leslie. But one can also boast of “purely Russian” successes: the men's team in the European qualification without Andrei Kirilenko and the silver of the women's team at the 2006 World Cup after winning the semi-finals against great American women.
VOLLEYBALL
Coaching the women's volleyball team after Nikolai Karpol is nowhere more dangerous. Against the backdrop of the domestic thunderer, any coach will look liberal, and in the absence of a result, it will be completely mild. However, the Italian Giovanni Caprara managed to bring the team to the gold of the World Cup , not possessing the authority and bestial roar of its predecessor. Kaprara behaved like a real practitioner: he saved Lyubov Sokolova for the most important matches of the national team leader, while the “slaughter” Gamova and Godin, on the contrary, loaded to the full. As a result, in the matches of the group tournament our equipment became our weapon, and in the final - tactics. The girls came to their senses after the first set they had completely lost to the Brazilians and pulled out a victory in a tie-break, converting the menacing lag of two goals into gold medals. Whatever the working methods of Caprara, they work.
TENNIS
It seemed that the victory of the Russian national team in the Davis Cup would not cause such emotions as the success of four years ago in the Paris “Bercy”. Then we won the blame for everything and only thanks to the inhuman courage of Mikhail Yuzhny. This time, the Russians showed character already in the semifinal match against the United States, when Tursunov exhausted Roddick. In the Moscow finals, our team was a clear favorite, and only a defeat from Argentina promised loud headlines in the newspapers. But, as you know, people write history, or rather, extraordinary people. Marat Safin, whose sporting career this year has already been waved by many, turned the finale into a performance with an intriguing plot: starting with a defeat, Safin persuaded the captain of the national team Shamil Tarpishchev to put him in a pair and a decisive single player. And both of these matches were victorious.
BOXING
The conquest by heavyweight boxers from the former USSR of all four championship belts in various versions is the main event in the world of professional boxing last year. And while the championships of Russian Nikolai Valuev and Ukrainian Vladimir Klitschko were few people surprised, then no one expected the appearance on the throne of the Belarusian Sergei Lyakhovich and the Russian American Oleg Maskaev, who broke through the last line of US defense. It was Maskaev’s victory that became the most discussed and spectacular - losing after eleven rounds on points to Hasim Rakhman, Maskaev reached the final round screaming from his corner: “For mom, for dad, for the homeland!” And still sent the opponent in the last seconds to knockout.
CURLING
The old truth says that in the women's team, competition is always higher. As a result, the results are higher. However, the victory of the Russian national team at the European Curling Championship was a completely unexpected achievement. Meanwhile, the prospects for this team drew even in Turin: the youngest (average age - 23 years), the most daring (rapid breakthrough into the elite), the most beautiful. Nigerian with Russian citizenship Nkeiruka Iseh and skip team Lyudmila Privivkova became popular media characters - reporters and fans in Switzerland literally chased after them. And most importantly: this victory proved that at least something in Russian sport is changing for the better.
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