Thriller with a happy ending: Russia snatched victory from Senegal in the opening match of the beach soccer World Cup

The return of two world champions and six newcomers

The beach soccer world championship has long been perceived by domestic fans as a tournament in which the Russian team is steadily gaining medals. Indeed, unlike ordinary football, in football in the sand, our team is one of the strongest on the planet. And in 2011 and 2013, the wards of Mikhail Likhachev twice in a row became world champions.

However, the Russians did not get to the last mundial. Two years ago, the team failed to qualify for the tournament. In 2019, it was possible to correct this misunderstanding. In the selection for the World Cup, which was held in Moscow, the hosts confidently took first place, defeating even the main rivals - Italians and Spaniards.

And Russia came to Paraguay as one of the contenders for medals. At the same time, the team was quite noticeably updated. The coaching staff took to South America immediately six world championship debutants, including the world's best goalkeeper Maxim Chuzhkov. At the same time, the domestic team as a team from the first basket got quite passable rivals: Senegal, the United Arab Emirates and the first time that Belarus made its way to the championship of the planet.

In the first match of the tournament, Likhachev's wards were to fight with the Africans. It is noteworthy that Russia has never played with Senegal before. Meanwhile, this team is the strongest on its continent, and in the world ranking takes an honorable tenth place. At the World Cup, this team three times reached the quarter-finals, including two years ago. Likhachev on the eve of the meeting called Senegal "a very serious rival."

“This is an athletic team practicing power, sincere football. Of course, Senegalese possess fantastic physical characteristics and are very well trained in football terms. So we have a very serious and responsible first match at the World Cup, ”the Coach“ Championship ”quotes.

Convincing beginning and failure in the second period

However, the match began for Russia in the best way. Already in the first minute, one of the debutants Fyodor Zemskov remained completely naked at the gates of someone else after a rally and calmly sent the ball into the goal. True goal was recorded on the goalkeeper of the opponents, who unsuccessfully substituted under attack in this episode.

Very quickly, the advantage of the domestic team was doubled by another newcomer Boris Nikonorov. What is characteristic, he also managed to distinguish himself with a header. Only an optional goal of the opponent slightly spoiled the mood of the Galaktionov team. The Senegalese goalkeeper took the ball forward, and Diassi successfully set up the crown, from which the shell flew into the target. Chuzhkov simply could not react to this rebound.

But shortly before the break, Russia increased the lead in the long run. The Africans again had problems playing the standards, and Zemskov this time sent the ball into the net.

It seemed that Likhachev’s wards would have no problems with such a game, but the second period became a real “cold shower” for the team. Firstly, the coaching staff decided to replace the goalkeeper, and instead of Chuzhkov threw Pavel Bazhenov into battle. But he missed almost the very first blow. Babakar Fall shot from under Mikhail Krasheninnikov precisely into the far corner. The goalkeeper did not reach the ball.

And soon the Senegalese evened the score at all. This time, Diassi fled to a quick attack and shot on target with a rebound from the bar. Bazhenov again did not save. The incident knocked down the Russian team, and the domestic team could not come to their senses for a long time.

It was possible to put the opponent in place only at the very end of the period. In a couple of episodes, the team was rescued by experienced Al Seini N'Diaye. However, he was powerless when Arthur Paportny, two minutes before the end, unexpectedly struck from an uncomfortable leg exactly under the crossbar. So Russia managed to score the most important ball.

Incredible goals Zemskova and hassle in the last minutes

In the final period, the hassle for the domestic team continued. Chuzhkov returned to the goal, but almost immediately made a gross mistake when hitting the standard and missed the shell on target. Senegalese did not stop there and soon again stepped forward. The situation of the Russian team has become dangerous.

At this difficult moment, the real "mode of salvation" included Zemskov. He began to beat through himself from all possible positions and as a result, twice literally in a minute distinguished himself in this way. So the World Cup debutant managed to arrange a hat-trick.

But that was not the end. In the time remaining until the end, Senegal managed to earn two dangerous penalties at once and both sold, but only two and a half minutes remained until the end.

And the wards of Likhachev in an extremely difficult match managed to show character and class. At first, Africans were ruined by a constant problem - the inability to play on standards. After the rally, three people held Nikanorov at once, but no one watched Paporny at the far post. Arthur calmly turned the ball into the net and scored a double. And then the Senegalese did not keep track of Nikanorov, who received an excellent pass from Krasheninnikov and sent the shell into the empty net.

So the Russian team in a dramatic and difficult match still managed to snatch victory from an inferior opponent in the class. It seemed that this meeting would be much easier for the domestic team, as evidenced by the first minutes, but as a result, Likhachev's wards almost suffered a defeat. In the next match, two days later, the Russians will play with the UAE.