Qatar is not the most frequent rival of the Russian team. Throughout history, the teams have faced each other three times. The first case was in 1996. Then Russia was sent on a tour of Asia and the level of the players was too different. No wonder Katara gave him a high five. And Valery Karpin, who played that match, remembered nothing except the murderous heat.
What did the coach say before the match?
“They don’t always manage to play in a modern way. Just like us.” Karpin and the national team prepare for Qatar
Already in the 21st century there are two meetings. And both are interesting from a plot point of view. Let’s remember!
The first match of the 21st century took place with Advokat in 2011. The federation worked, the team was criticized
The March break for national team matches in 2011 included two matches. The first is to visit Armenia. Then Russia received the first part of the criticism. After all, she couldn’t win. The 0-0 of that team was definitely perceived as a failure. However, what happened next was even more interesting: the national team’s next match became commercial. Yes, yes, now it really seems surprising. But the Russian team was invited to play with Qatar for money.
The bad thing was that we had to fly to a distant and hot country. However, imagine how cool it is: the national team almost became Brazil for a while! Andrei Arshavin and Sergei Fursenko gave interviews to local channels, the players also had to smile and pretend professionalism. It seems that this was what upset the Lawyer the most. The coach hardly understood how this match would help during the Euro 2012 qualifying matches.
Probably, the flow of all these feelings was reflected in the match. Already in the first 10 minutes Russia should have conceded a couple of goals. But there was only one thing left. At the same time, it was not the second or third team that came out as the starting team, but rather many of those who were in the national team at that time. In the 34th minute, Roman Pavlyuchenko equalized the score. The team did not have enough for more, despite the fact that completely different players came out in the second half. A tie that in Russia was perceived as a failure.
Roman Shirokov
Russian national team midfielder
“After this match, I’m even afraid to imagine what they will write about us. Although today we didn’t really play very well. This I am willing to admit.”
And the footballer was right. The experts once again criticized the team for its lack of character, will and acceptable results. Furthermore, there were two reasons: not to forget about the failure in Armenia. The lawyer was calm.
dick lawyer
head coach of the Russian national team
“There can be no progress in friendly matches. But the game was good for me. “It was important to see how the players interact in new combinations, in a slightly different tactical scheme than the one we used in the second half.”
But after Advocaat stopped being the national team coach and could not pay attention to corporate ethics, he said the meeting was absolutely easy. And no one took her seriously.
“In fact, then we came to play for fun, change of scenery, relax. Furthermore, the match was beneficial for the federation,” Advocate said in 2016.
It appears that this is indeed the case. But this match certainly did not have any negative impact: in 2011, Russia only lost points once in qualifying for Euro 2012, winning five matches. So the criticism was definitely not entirely appropriate.
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The second meeting took place under Cherchesov in 2016. The coach was very dissatisfied.
The next time the teams met was in November 2016. Then no one talked about the economic conditions of the match. It is unlikely that Stanislav Cherchesov, who was just getting used to the Russian national team, would have liked that topic. The coach did not have a great start: a draw with Turkey, a narrow victory over Ghana and a defeat against Costa Rica. And here is Qatar. Another long flight to Doha. And a difficult match is expected.
This time the Russian team was at least the first to score. Although from a penalty, Alexander Samedov scored. So there was no need to recover like in 2011. But the victorious result did not last long: already in the first half, the Qataris equalized the score. And after the break they scored again.
The Russian team before the match against Qatar in November 2016
You already understand what has started: Cherchesov is not a coach and the team must be dispersed. Because losing to Qatar, which is barely among the top 100 in the FIFA ranking, is a shame.
But it’s good that Cherchesov was calm. Instead of succumbing to provocations, he humbly analyzed what was happening and drew the correct conclusions, which he did not hesitate to speak publicly about.
Stanislav Cherchesov
head coach of the Russian national team
“We don’t just relax. Discipline began to falter. I will repeat something, I will even specify it: they scored a penalty, they didn’t score, I don’t care. There is a level of selection, we must not allow ourselves the luxury of becoming complacent. There are nuances that not even Qatar forgives. You can say anything to a child, but until they are burned, nothing will change. Unfortunately, I didn’t see anything else: we came to play for the national team, not to win. This is bad. We have to win, I really want to win and I think this will also rub off on the team.”
There is some difference with Karpin’s quotes, who does not always clearly formulate the tasks. So sometimes it seems like there’s just no goal to win. In any case, historically it has already been shown that it is difficult for Russia to play outside of Qatar. Today it will probably not be easier than in previous times.
