"This is joy to tears": how the Russian national team reacted to reaching the World Cup final in beach soccer

In the match with Switzerland, the Russian national team managed to accomplish a real miracle.

Three minutes before the end of regular time, the domestic team was two goals behind and, it seemed, had no chance of salvation.

But first, Boris Nikonorov cut the gap, and then Anton Shkarin, 19 seconds before the final whistle, turned the meeting into overtime.

As a result, everything was decided by Denis Parkhomenko's save in the penalty shoot-out and Yuri Krasheninnikov's accurate shot.

Before him Mikhail Likhachev whispered something quietly.

He later confessed to reporters that he had prayed.

"I do not remember.

Perhaps.

Why did you run to the fans after Krasheninnikov's decisive attempt?

You cannot always control yourself.

This is a sport.

This is football.

And this is the World Championship, ”the specialist explained.

But the hosts' mentor was not too happy with the game of the charges.

According to him, the second period in the performance of the team turned out to be the worst in the tournament.

“After him there was nowhere to retreat - behind Moscow.

But they managed to recoup and pull out the match.

For the semifinals, we remained in a rather limited composition.

Someone better got into the game, someone worse.

Plus they removed Kirill Romanov.

There were very few people left, so five or six had to spend half of the third period and extra time, ”Likhachev added.

But the coach was pleased with the refereeing this time.

He stressed that Ingilab Mammadov's brigade as a whole made the right decisions and acted impartially.

“With regard to the match with Spain, they worked well.

I always say that for beach soccer one or two mistakes of the referees is the norm.

But the previous meeting was a real disaster.

We counted five or six moments when decisions were made in an incomprehensible way.

Today this has not been observed, ”the specialist rejoiced.

As for the final meeting, the mentor expressed the opinion that the confrontation with Senegal could turn out to be quite interesting for the fans, and called the Japanese an organized team.

As a result, the Asians won the second semifinal match.

Nikonorov, the author of the double, began a conversation with representatives of the media with the topic of refereeing.

After the meeting with Spain, he complained that the referees were “killing” the Russian national team.

However, this time he, like Likhachev, praised the judges.

“It was absolutely unbiased refereeing.

Of course, the removal of Romanov hit our self-confidence very hard.

We understood that now the opponent will shoot a penalty, and we will remain in the minority.

Instead of a goal into someone else's goal, we got the ball into our own.

This is the most difficult moment.

From time to time I looked at the scoreboard and understood: time is rapidly passing away, like sand through your fingers.

I tried.

I knew I had to score at least once to get back into the game.

And the faith did not go anywhere.

Thanks to her, we got it back.

If we didn’t believe in ourselves, we would never return to such a meeting, ”the striker said.

At the same time, according to the footballer, it was possible to make an incredible comeback largely thanks to the audience, who created a great atmosphere at the stadium and drove Our Boys forward to the end.

“At the expense of a good plan, the crazy fans were able to recoup.

We just turned the game upside down.

The Swiss were more than confident of victory.

Three minutes before the end, they were leading two goals, and Russia did little.

We were in a hurry, and they calmly controlled the ball.

The rival did everything right, but underestimated our Russian spirit, ”the forward noted.

Finally, he remembered how in 2011 he watched the world championship victorious for the national team at the refinery where he worked then on the screen of a small phone.

“The Internet traffic was constantly running out, since there was only 100 megabytes of it, and the broadcast takes a lot.

I had to constantly buy more.

I watched the final with my father.

We were shocked because we didn't even know that such a sport existed.

We were proud that people beat Brazil in the FIFA World Cup final, no matter what the beach one.

Football is a religion for them.

As soon as they start walking, they go to Copacabana.

When I watched videos from there, I admired.

Thousands of people gather there, and everyone is playing with a ball.

It was real nonsense.

And now, ten years later, I myself reached the World Cup final.

What could be better?

Dad, of course, watches the tournament, "Nikonorov shared.

But Boris refused to answer the question about the desired opponent in the final.

According to him, the Russian national team must first of all do everything necessary, since its potential is unlimited.

“We will try to recover as much as possible, carry out all the procedures, eat and relax.

Let's give all of ourselves.

You need to get the upper hand.

There are no weak teams at the World Championship, ”summed up Nikonorov.

In turn, the author of the saving goal, 19 seconds before the end of regular time, Shkarin, found it difficult to find the words to explain how he managed to score.

“When I equalized, I realized that we will win 100%.

Just 19 seconds before the final whistle, defeats do not go away.

And so, he closed his eyes and struck.

Everything is as usual, ”the captain laughed.

At the same time, he complained that in the second period the team relaxed too much and began to allow inexplicable mistakes.

“There was some kind of confusion, almost all the guys got confused and began to make mistakes.

In the end, we spent a lot of time trying to switch the game.

Well, we managed to equalize the score.

The whole team and the stadium believed in the best until the end, ”the defender emphasized.

He also noted that such victories are quite in the spirit of the Russian national team, and tough matches in the group stage were just the beginning.

“It turned out to be a peasant victory in character.

They also played for those guys who could not take part in the meeting and were worried in the stands.

And the fans believed to the end.

When Nikonorov reduced the backlog to a minimum, people knew that we would equalize.

This helped, ”Shkarin admitted.

Another experienced footballer, Yuri Krasheninnikov, opened the scoring.

And for him this goal was the first in the tournament.

He also put an end to the decisive penalty in the series.

“We did a great job, but tomorrow is the final, so emotions should be left for the decisive match.

We were glad and that's enough.

There was a moment when Likhachev for some reason stopped trusting me to execute the penalty, although in my entire career I probably missed one point from a point.

Now I started to get into the top five again.

In fact, I was not worried, but I hit badly.

The strongest are lucky, ”said the defender.

He compared the game itself with a swing and called the Swiss "a very strong team", especially highlighting goalkeeper Henry David Monod and Noel Ott in its composition.

Judging Krasheninnikov, like Likhachev and Nikonorov, was pleased.

“In general, everything was fine.

We were not "killed".

Unless it was possible in a couple of moments to punish the Swiss for the simulation.

Then they would stop “diving”.

I have no questions about the match with Spain either, but in that game in 50/50 situations all decisions were made not in our favor, ”the footballer explained.

The experienced defender explained the turning point during the match by banal fatigue, since the Russians had to spend a lot of energy in defense.

“It was necessary to run a little, to make an extra step or two, when, for example, we were hammered over ourselves.

I think the coaches have something to tell us, ”Krasheninnikov expressed his opinion.

The third goal of the team in the match was scored by the debutant of the World Cup Andrei Kotenev.

It is curious that in the group stage he did not distinguish himself even once, and in the playoffs he has already scored twice.

“I'm glad I'm doing it.

In the group he gave only an assist, although there was a good chance, but did not hit the empty net.

Fart returned in meetings on departure.

Feelings are incredible.

Believe me, they cannot be described in words.

This is real joy.

Joy to tears.

We are in the final.

For me, this is generally the debut World Cup, and with each stage I feel more and more happiness.

The main thing now is not to lose your head.

Tomorrow is our most important day.

The final is a separate match.

There will be no weaker and stronger teams.

Everyone is equal here.

We will fight for gold, ”the forward said.

The attacker also admitted that he had not even had time to read the messages on the phone yet and only hugged his wife.

“The stands were shaking.

The ending was just incredible.

Everyone stood on their feet.

Unreal noise.

We felt every fan.

It really helped us.

Honestly, when Shkarin didn’t realize the free kick a minute before the end, tears came to his eyes.

I started thinking that this could not be.

But when he did distinguish himself, it was relieved.

I believed that we would win, ”Kotenev added.

Stanislav Kosharny was also happy.

At the beginning of the second period, he traditionally replaced Maxim Chuzhkov and spent most of the game.

However, Likhachev preferred Parkhomenko to the penalty shootout.

“It's a coaching instinct.

He follows our performance in the Russian championship and knows perfectly well how everyone feels in the "lottery".

He made the right choice.

So it's not about injury, ”the goalkeeper explained.

After the previous match with Spain, the goalkeeper felt unwell, but said that he had fully recovered and felt absolutely normal.

It is curious that in the game with the Swiss, Kosharny often took over the game and even made a mark in someone else's half.

“We analyzed the opponents' matches.

Today they didn't meet the goalkeepers at all and gave them a lot of space.

It had to be used.

Unfortunately, the ball did not fly into the goal, ”the footballer assured.

As for the failed second period, Kosharny, like Shkarin, explained what happened by relaxation.

“We started making small mistakes. An opponent of such a level, who scores a lot during the entire tournament, immediately punished us for them. Not enough disqualified players? It is hard to say. The team looked good. Those guys who entered the pitch fought both for themselves and for the guys who could not take part in the match, ”the goalkeeper summed up.