"Both teams played to win, but shared the points"
The Russian national football team drew with Turkey in the third round of the group stage of the League of Nations.
The meeting at the VTB Arena ended with a 1: 1 score.
According to the head coach of the owners Stanislav Cherchesov, such a result is natural.
“I think both the fans at the stadium and the viewers liked the match.
Of course, we were determined to win.
But you need to be objective: a draw is a natural result.
Both teams played to win, but shared the points, ”summed up Cherchesov at the post-match press conference.
He highly appreciated the performance of Chenol Gunesh's team, which includes a large number of technical football players.
As an example, the specialist cited a friendly match, in which the Turks drew with the Germans (3: 3).
“Of course, we would like to dominate for the entire 90 minutes.
But during the break, Gunesh made substitutions that strengthened the opponent's game.
Therefore, we failed to maintain the pace that we had in the first half.
Compared to September, the Turks have significantly improved: the European championships have started, and my colleague has the opportunity to rotate the squad.
If I am not mistaken, five new players entered the field.
Turkey has always been strong individually, and now it has improved in team play, ”the coach explained.
As for the replacements in the Russian national team, they, according to Cherchesov, were mostly caused by the need to strengthen the center of the field.
“The replacement of Anton Miranchuk was not planned.
In the scoring episode, he received a painful blow, in the place of which a hematoma appeared.
The course of the game also suggested that it was necessary to strengthen the middle of the field.
But Anton scored a great ball, I liked some of his actions, some - no, we have already discussed all the issues among ourselves.
As for Andrey Mostovoy, reverse replacements are always unpleasant, this does not happen often.
But the point is not at all how he played, Andrei fulfilled his instructions.
It's exclusively about tactics, ”said Cherchesov.
Before the meeting with Turkey, the Russians lost three players at once - Georgy Jikia, Marinato Guilherme and Mario Fernandez, who passed questionable tests for coronavirus.
In addition, Alexey Miranchuk, Dmitry Barinov and Alexander Golovin are still recovering from injuries.
According to the head coach, the national team is doing well, although it has lost a number of key players.
“Despite this, the team has remained solid.
Of course, as the match progresses, the variability of substitutions decreases, but we did everything possible to make our game balanced, ”Cherchesov emphasized.
Also, the specialist did not disregard the fact that fans were present at the match with Turkey for the first time after the break, if we take into account the official meetings.
“We have something to compare with.
We played the last match with Serbia in front of empty stands.
And now there were about seven thousand people in the stands.
This is heaven and earth.
A completely different atmosphere.
Even so many spectators could be heard.
Thank them for their support.
Football with fans takes on a completely different look, ”he said.
Already on October 14, Cherchesov's wards will meet with the Hungarian national team, which defeated Serbia in the third round of the League of Nations.
At the moment, Russia is leading in its group, and its future rival is only one point behind it.
“We were not surprised that the Hungarians beat the Serbs.
They had some good matches.
We have a tournament struggle in our group, so the next match may become decisive.
We will prepare according to our schedule.
The game will take place in a couple of days and there is no room for maneuver, ”Cherchesov concluded.
"Let's fix the mistakes so that this does not happen again"
The players of the Russian national team themselves supported the coach and agreed that the team spent two different halves.
According to Anton Miranchuk, the realization of the moments became a stumbling block for her.
“We had a good first half, creating chances, but we were a little unlucky.
This is normal, this is football.
We have to work and everything will be fine.
After the break, they probably lost the initiative, a certain thread.
It happens that the game is destroyed by small moments.
But at the same time, there were episodes when they could score, turn the tide and lead the score.
But that's okay.
I think we will draw conclusions and correct mistakes so that this does not happen again, "Miranchuk assured on the air of Match TV.
Recalling his ball, the midfielder paid tribute to his teammates - Roman Zobnin and Artem Dzyuba.
“Zobnin grabbed the ball and dragged it.
Probably, I wanted to transfer to Artyom, but I suggested that I was alone, and Dziuba skipped competently.
I just had to hit the goal, ”said Miranchuk.
Goalkeeper Anton Shunin also complained about the missed chances.
According to him, the fact that the Turks began to act more actively in the second half, as they were inferior in the score, also played a role.
“In the first half, we managed to play, probably, we could have scored more goals.
In the second, the opponent ran forward, we had to defend more.
In any case, we had moments after the break.
I think if we had scored more, we would have won.
But as a result, they missed, and the game in the end turned out to be difficult.
Turkey is a very strong contender.
We are moving on, ”said Shunin.
A similar point of view was expressed by the defender Fyodor Kudryashov.
He especially noted the game of the goal-scorer in the Turkish national team Kenan Karaman.
“We were successful in the first half, and we had to score not one goal, but two or three. But failed, and then Turkey rebuilt and added. Somewhere we gave up the initiative, and they had a good second half. The game changed due to the fact that Karaman went on the attack to Burak Yilmaz. It's a pity that we didn't win, but it's good that we scored one point, ”Kudryashov summed up the meeting.