The first thought that came to my mind when I arrived in Qatar was how good it was that the World Cup was held in November-December. In Doha it’s +40 degrees and it’s nice to just look out the window at the street. Because the first step you take to leave the heated room you find yourself in a Qatari sauna. You are immediately surrounded by hot air, which also becomes heavier due to the high humidity.
But Doha has an important advantage over Egypt, where our team played twice and where you also enjoy the same beautiful autumn weather: here the stadium is very comfortable thanks to the air conditioning system, which withstands the local heat well.
The Russian national team has already tested this in action: during training at the Al-Janub stadium, where the match with the Qatari national team will take place tomorrow, the stadium technologists set a comfortable temperature, which everyone managed to even forget about the stuffiness outside. Valery Karpin noticed it too. And then he added: “I have no idea how this air conditioning system will affect the players. It’s one thing to stay here and another to run. “This is my first time in a stadium like this, I don’t know how it works.”
The coach of the national team did not come to Qatar for the first time: in 1996 he was here for a friendly match with the local team. But the memory of that game remained one: “I only remember that it was very hot. Not like here now. I don’t remember any other details at all; Maybe my brain was boiling then, so I just remember the heat.”
Valery Georgievich said that the atmosphere in the team before the match was normal, everyone arrived and was ready. “I know the opposing team by name, if I follow someone, no,” he added about preparing for the match. – I saw the previous matches of the Qatar national team – well, they play 4-3-3, they try to play modern football, come out of defense. They try, but they don’t always succeed. Like ours. Judging the odds by someone playing at home is no longer the same as it used to be when the home team was considered the favourite.”
According to Karpin, now there is no feeling that the World Cup is coming to the country: “It is neither cold nor hot. Released when the World Cup ended. In terms of infrastructure, of course, this is the best we have seen in all the previous matches.”
The match against Qatar will not give the Russian team points in the FIFA ranking because it is not official. But even if he had brought it, as Karpin said, he still wouldn’t have given us anything.
Before training, my colleagues and I congratulated Dmitry Barinov, who turned 27 today.
“First of all I wish myself health,” said the midfielder. – I can take care of the rest. When I blow out the candles, I make the same wish, but nothing happens. That’s why I wish you good health.”
“I’ve already been to Qatar, but the World Cup was played there and there’s a friendly match here. It’s a dual feeling,” Barinov shared. – I don’t regret it, no… It happened. This is life. It’s fantastic that Qatar has agreed to play with us. A good opponent should be a good match. I don’t know anyone on the team, I didn’t see their games in the World Cup. We analyze how they come out of defense and how they press, so that we understand the team. The equipment is pretty good. In terms of the level of those we played before, I can probably compare it with Iran.”
At the World Cup at home, Qatar lost three group stage matches, without showing anything brilliant. And then he changed coaches, now Carlos Queiroz works with the team. Since he arrived in February, Qatar has beaten Mexico in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, lost to Panama (0-4) and most recently to Kenya (1-2). Therefore, our team will probably have the opportunity after the final whistle to score, if not official points, then at least virtual ones.
How the second team of the national team played with Egypt – in our great online
How is that? The Russian team made the Egyptian Olympic team, although in the long run they led!
