“Unbearable heat is expected in Paraguay”: Likhachev on silver of the World Beach Games and preparation for the World Cup

- Silver World Beach Games - success or failure?

- I rate second place as a successful result. For our beach soccer, any entry into the top three of the winners of a major international tournament is a great achievement. We went to this tournament with the task of getting into the prizes. I really wanted to play in the final match. And, despite the thorny path that we had to go through during the competition, we got to the goal where we simply did not have enough strength. The Brazilians have surpassed us in many ways. Therefore, our performance and evaluate as good.

- Is it correct to say that the World Beach Games have become the dress rehearsal of the World Cup, which will be held in Paraguay in late November?

- For me this is a separate tournament. Firstly, he is the first in history. Secondly, when you are in the national team with athletes from other species, then additional responsibility falls on your shoulders. In our case, 16 strongest teams came to Qatar. At its core, it was a mini-world championship, and I am glad that the guys managed to cope with the responsibility and the excitement, which, of course, was present, and also managed to show very high-quality football throughout the matches.

- Which of the wards would you note at the end of the tournament? Maybe the goalkeeper team, weakened due to the absence of Maxim Chuzhkov?

- I can highlight the whole team. Someone played more vividly, such as Arthur Paporny. Someone less, but, one way or another, everyone made a sufficient contribution to the overall result. I am grateful to each of the guys for their professionalism and dedication, both in preparation for the tournament and in the competitions themselves.

- Now the emotions have subsided a bit. Surely, you have already analyzed the final match. What conclusions are drawn from it?

- There are two main conclusions. First, for a successful game against the Brazilian national team, it is necessary to account. I told the guys about this before the match and reminded that all the bright victories in the past over this team began with bright debuts. We always scored first and this added confidence. Unfortunately, this time we were not able to realize the available moments. Then we missed two offensive balls. 0: 2 after the first period, the task has already become difficult.

- And second?

- Perfect physical fitness is needed. Five matches in six days, of course, affected the final match: the guys at different times lacked freshness, which led to individual errors. We started to lose martial arts. In addition, we were not able to demonstrate our trump cards, to use those nuances in which we are traditionally strong.

- If we talk about other matches in the tournament, then they went according to plan?

- The most difficult and most important game - against the Japanese team in the group, turned out to be dramatic. In this meeting, the semi-finalist of the tournament was determined. A defeat would erase all our hopes for success. Fortunately, we managed to win. We spent a lot of energy and nerves in this meeting. We managed to gain a hard victory thanks to the ball scored in the last minute of extra time.

You can also recall the game with Iran, which was excellent in terms of the quality of football, although we had only 17 hours between these matches to prepare and recover. It's amazing that the guys managed to squeeze the most out of themselves. In my opinion, the match with Iran in terms of many factors has become one of the best for us this season.

- How will the further preparations for the World Cup in Paraguay be built?

- First of all, we must not forget about the Intercontinental Cup in Dubai, which we will fly to on November 1. There will be a short three-day gathering. On the 5th we play the first match against Egypt. Of course, we laid down on such a difficult schedule. Therefore, the composition of this tournament will be experimental.

Nevertheless, we will try to perform well and, most importantly, check on those players who are in the nearest reserve. After the tournament, we return to Moscow and from November 12 in Novogorsk we begin full-fledged preparation for the World Cup. And on the 14th we fly to Asuncion.

“You have already flown to Paraguay.” What are your impressions?

- The hosts immediately warned us that unbearable heat was expected in late November. Considering that we will play the first two matches at 16 o’clock, this creates additional difficulties in preparing for the tournament. This we, of course, take into account. Infrastructure and some other organizational issues during the tournament will be relegated to the background. First of all, we need to think about the game and how to play as successfully as possible at the World Cup.

- The beach team was called "Our Boys" ... What do you think about this?

- I like that we are not separated from the national team, and we feel united with the rest of the teams. It should be so. We work with one goal: to develop football, the “Our Boys” strategy helps us a lot in this. And then, we are ordinary guys who also play in their yards. Is not it so?!