“Won by a decent margin”: Russia for the first time in history will host the beach soccer World Cup

Victory without a chance for rivals

For the first time in history, Russia has received the right to host the beach soccer world championship and will take the mundial in 2021. This decision was made at a FIFA meeting in Shanghai.

“Everyone remembers the 2018 World Cup, which was held in Russia with resounding success. So now we are looking forward to the World Beach Soccer Championship, ”said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

Chile and El Salvador also claimed to hold the most prestigious beach soccer tournament. However, the Russian Football Union (RFU) was initially convinced that the country's application was the most convincing.

According to FIFA board member Alexei Sorokin, Russia has provided all the necessary guarantees at the application stage. In particular, it is about minimizing the risks associated with the organization of the tournament, as well as adequate funding.

“Therefore, there was no classic secret ballot - we can assume that we won by a decent margin,” TASS quoted Sorokin as saying.

In addition, a large number of beach soccer fans were called as another important advantage of holding a tournament in Russia, which guarantees a stir in the stands.

The venue for the mundial will be Moscow, and the main arena will be located on the territory of the Luzhniki sports complex. Despite the fact that for the first time Russia will host a competition of this level, it already has experience in holding major international starts. So, the Euroleague stages are held annually in the capital, and in July the 2019 World Cup qualification tournament was held.

At the same time, the organizing committee has to solve a number of problems related to the layout of the main venue of the tournament, since its minimum capacity should be 5 thousand people. In the near future, the dates of the competition will be approved. At the moment, we are talking about July.

The first beach soccer world championship was organized in 1995. 13 times in a row Brazil became the hostess of the tournament, once it was hosted by France, the UAE, Italy, Tahiti, Portugal and the Bahamas. Since 2011, competitions are held every two years.

“It is important to build a training plan correctly”

Russia has already expressed confidence that the country will cope with its task and organize the mundial at the highest level. The Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Pavel Kolobkov suggested that the tournament will certainly become one of the most memorable events for both athletes and fans.

“This is a significant event for our country, because football is the most popular and favorite sport among Russians. The main task now is the active preparation and worthy performance of our athletes. The Russian team, which won the world championships in 2011 and 2013, is among the leaders in beach soccer, ”the press service of the Ministry of Sports quoted Kolobkova as saying.

In turn, the RFU President Alexander Dyukov thanked FIFA for the confidence placed in it.

“The RFU is actively working so that major international tournaments take place in Russia, so that our country remains one of the centers of the football world, one of our tasks is to develop all types of football, and beach soccer, which Russia loves, including,” declared Dyukov.

Sergei Anokhin, a member of the RFU Football Varieties Committee, admitted that from the very beginning he believed in the victory of the Russian bid.

“Of course, the events that have already taken place in Moscow have left a huge mark on the development of beach soccer in Russia and around the world,” Anokhin noted.

The Russian national team twice won the beach soccer world championship. She won the first trophy in her history in 2011 in Italy, and the second - two years later in Tahiti. This season, the wards of Mikhail Likhachev won Euroleague silver medals and triumphs of the qualification tournament of the World Cup. In this regard, many people reasonably assume that the domestic national team will certainly compete for the main trophy of the home championship.

In turn, the head coach himself Mikhail Likhachev refrained from making loud statements about the possible results of the upcoming mundial. However, he emphasized that such an experienced team will face only the highest tasks.

“Naturally, we will try to do our best. Even now we remain among the leaders of world beach football and set a goal to stay at a high level, although every year it is becoming more and more difficult to do, ”said Likhachev.

In addition, he noted another significant aspect of the upcoming World Cup. In his opinion, he will contribute to the extension of the career of veterans of the team.

“As for the composition of the national team, it is now difficult to guess who will speak. We have a lot of quite aged football players, but their professionalism and motivation will be at the highest level. Many will probably want to continue their careers and play at the home world championship, ”the mentor added.

According to two-time world champion Ilya Leonov, a home tournament will be a good motivation for the national team. At the same time, he suggested that speaking in front of his stands would create additional pressure on the players.

“I hope the current generation of football players, who have already sniffed gunpowder, plus experienced guys will cope with the task. Here it is important to correctly plan the preparation for the World Cup, since we will not have qualifications for it, it will be necessary to speak at other tournaments, to replace this preparation with friendly matches, ”RIA Novosti quotes Leonova.