- After the quarterfinal match between Russia and Spain, the refereeing became the main topic of discussion. In your opinion, the referees "choked" the domestic team?
- The Spaniards also received enough yellow cards.
And the number of fouls turned out to be about the same.
But, of course, the referees missed the thread of the game.
From the first minutes they began to extinguish aggression and already at the 11th second showed Francisco Jose Chintas and Fedor Zemskov on the yellow card.
Then Alexei Makarov began to wind up and was also punished.
In principle, the logic of the arbitrators is clear.
- As a result, later Mariano Romo showed reds to both. Was this strictness justified?
- I absolutely disagree with the verdict to remove Zemskov. All the same, he jumped to the opponent's legs not quite from behind, and everything was happening at the opponent's goal, and it was not about disrupting some kind of dangerous attack. You know that a person "hangs" on the "mustard plaster", so why make such a tough decision three minutes and 20 seconds before the final whistle? For this I give the referee 1. Moreover, they removed two leaders of the team, knowing that the wards of Mikhail Likhachev were waiting for the semifinals. We love beach soccer for the skill that the stars show. And they are taken and kicked out of the site. Now the Russian national team will have to play without Makarov, Zemskov and Artur Ferorotny. The situation has become much more complicated for us. The judges needed to turn on their head a little. But they just don't know us well. Believe me, this only strengthens the domestic team.
- Makarov received both cards for hitting an opponent in the face. Maybe he himself should have been more careful in fighting?
- The moment turned out to be ambiguous.
On the one hand, Alexey really touched his opponent with his hand.
On the other hand, it was possible to hold a conversation with him, issue the last Chinese warning, explain in a harsh manner that this should not be done.
It's just that Makarov in such episodes, when he sees a simulation from the side of rivals, starts to get turned on.
Not only did he have a card, but he twice approached Romo with a clearly aggressive attitude.
I think he got the second one in aggregate for unsportsmanlike behavior towards the referee.
- Knowing the hot temper of one of our leading defenders, could the Spaniards deliberately provoke him?
- This was not only about Alexei.
In the course of the match, there were several more moments in which they began to squeak.
There is no foul as such, and the person is already making acrobatic somersaults with shouts and asks for a penalty.
And most importantly, the judges were led and whistled.
This also turned on the guys.
They didn't do anything, and the opponent turned on artistry ten points out of ten.
- The Spaniards behaved like this on the site and when did you yourself still perform?
- Anything has happened, but in key confrontations in the playoffs, they like to perform like that.
But they always put more emphasis on tactics.
It is important for the "Red Fury" to bring everything to its logical conclusion.
However, in the match with Russia, the guests in the first two periods practically did not have any sharpness, they did not pass in depth.
There were no moments at the gates of Stanislav Kosharny either.
In the third period, the opponent has already gone ahead of the checkers bald, but Ferranny buried all their hopes.
- You said that Mendes Christian's charges earned several fouls thanks to their artistry. Why do the referees believe them, because everyone knows very well about the "little football tricks" of this team?
- Indeed, judges often fall for it.
The Portuguese national team also has a number of performers who know how to correctly “draw” fouls.
You need to understand that because of the sand, the arbiters do not always clearly see whether there was a joint or not, and they make a decision only on the dynamics of movement.
Loud, painful screams are further confusing.
But there are referees who do not react in any way.
In such cases, the Spaniards give up their attempts.
Unfortunately, Romo believed them.
But I am very glad that the guys, despite everything that happens, proved that they are stronger.
Victory is the most important thing.
- Captain Anton Shkarin expressed an unpopular point of view and reproached the partners for showing excessive emotions. Can you partially agree with him?
- This is a purely psychological moment.
The judges sometimes distribute too many cards, which understandably causes negative among the players.
Here we are talking about the quarterfinals of the home world championship.
I agree with Anton, because he is an experienced fighter, and together we went through a lot.
It is unlikely that the Russians wanted to score fouls.
But I don't understand why people begin to show aggression, knowing that they have decisive meetings ahead.
Why do this?
Makarov almost pounced on his opponent with his fists.
But he understood that he would now be removed.
Everything here is individual.
Someone starts with half a turn, and someone proves on the field.
You need to work on yourself and be able to restrain emotions.
I went through it myself.
Sometimes you want to frankly do something about the judge.
- Boris Nikonorov said that the Russian national team is being "killed" at the current World Cup. Is it emotions on his part, or are the judges biased?
- I cannot say that we are being "strangled".
I repeat, even in the match with Spain, many cards turned out to be on the case, since there was enough unnecessary conversations.
But I do not agree with the "mustard plasters", which were shown for the girth with the hands.
For example, the first Zemskov was given just for this.
After all, it was possible to warn, and not immediately punish.
- But in fact, three leaders were cut off from the Russian national team before the semifinals with Switzerland.
- I can't say how intentional it was, but many cards came out of the 50/50 category. Including, an unnecessary yellow was given to Ferorotny for pushing in the penalty area.
The referees must understand: this cannot be done in the playoffs of the world championship.
But they no longer thought about it and mechanically performed their work.
I will say more, they just swam, unable to withstand the heat.
As a result, there was a moment when Romo's assistant appointed a penalty in favor of Spain, and the chief who came running changed his decision.
The assistant could only shrug his hands.
- In theory, referees should help the national team, or does the factor of home refereeing not work in beach football?
- Probably not.
Judging must be objective.
No need to pull us by the ears - we can handle it ourselves.
Yes, at the start, the Russians skidded a little, but now they have picked up speed.
It can be seen that the team is in great shape.
- Did you yourself have to deal with biased refereeing?
- Anything happened. I immediately remember the 2013 Intercontinental Cup, when they simply did not want to see us in the final. Believe me, it was worse there. We worked so that there were only six of us left for the semifinals with Switzerland. The rest earned disqualifications, including head coach Likhachev. Before that, in a meeting with Brazil, cards were given at every opportunity. As a result, we won at 11:10 in extra time, but when we returned to the dressing room, I did not even know where I was. Moreover, in the end Alexey Eremeev pulled the muscle, and we fought for 40 seconds without him. Of course, the Swiss did not knock the ball out of bounds until we did it ourselves and asked the referee: “What's the matter? How long can this go on? The man looked at me with a blank look and showed a yellow one, although I was the captain.
The reason is that in those years we dominated and won all possible trophies.
And when the champion does not change, it is not interesting to look at it, so a new winner was needed.
Then they realized that some command from above, apparently, really did.
It got to the point that the Russian consuls working in the UAE, who went to the matches, almost tried to intervene themselves.
We will remember that tournament for the rest of our lives.
- Just Likhachev said that at three world championships out of five at which he worked, the judges did not favor Russia. Do you agree?
- Sometimes we felt that they were not judging in our favor.
But we are not talking about those world championships where we took gold, in 2011 and 2013.
Everything was just fine there.
But after the hegemony of the Russian national team, apparently, they wanted to end.
Again, there was a desire to get a new champion.
- Do you admit that even now they do not want to see the national team on the top step of the podium?
- We can only assume.
Yes, in the match with Spain, the referees made several ambiguous decisions, but in previous meetings there were no questions to them.
I cannot say that we were “killed”.
When this happened at major tournaments, they wanted to break Russia.
But understand, this only hardens us and makes us stronger.
If we feel injustice, completely different reserves will turn on, and we bring the game to victory.
- In your opinion, it is more likely to talk about the low qualifications of referees?
- Undoubtedly.
Of course, they work with them.
New people come, seminars are held.
It is the Spaniards who select candidates, carry out the selection.
But you need to understand that for most referees, serving football matches is not even their main job.
They are all doing something in parallel.
And this is rather a hobby that they really like.
Plus, many were left without practice for a long period due to the coronavirus pandemic, because in some countries national championships were not even held.
And then people come to the World Cup and get into a real "batch".
In such a situation, it is easy to "swim".
Nevertheless, the Spaniards were also punished in Moscow.
In the game against Tahiti, Lorenz Leon Gomez received a red card, and in the match against Mozambique - Antonio Mayor.
- Is the level of refereeing at the world championships growing?
- I think the referees work smoothly at the current championship of the planet.
Yes, in the Russia - Spain match, Romo's brigade could not cope with the tension, but before that there had been no high-profile scandals.
True, I don’t remember such tense meetings.
- Particular controversy in the match with Spain was caused by the episode with the uncounted goal of Stanislav Kosharny, when it was not clear whether the ball crossed the "ribbon" after hitting the crossbar or not. How could the referee make a decision if he didn't even reach the line?
- It is difficult to assess this episode objectively.
Perhaps Romo really saw everything well.
- Why not try out at least a goal determination system in beach soccer? At the Intercontinental Cup, at least
VAR was introduced
.
- It is difficult to adapt the goal-setting system, since we simply do not have a goal line to guide the technique. And the ball is often not visible because of the sand. As for the introduction of VAR, then, in my opinion, this is not the best idea. Imagine how many controversial issues will arise in beach soccer. This will have an extremely negative impact on the dynamics of the game, and the fans will lose interest in what is happening on the site. If the referee has to run to the monitor every time, the matches will stretch for an hour and a half. Remember even what happened at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, when the referees turned to VAR for help at any controversial moment, just wanting to play it safe.