Golden sand: how Russia beat Japan to become a three-time world champion in beach soccer

On the eve of the World Cup final, few doubted that Russia would win over Japan.

Literally everything was on the side of the hosts: the incredible support of the stands, and the return to action after the disqualification of Artur Ferorotny, Alexei Makarov and Fedor Zemskov, and an excellent emotional mood after a wonderful comeback in the confrontation with Switzerland.

However, if we abstract from the above factors, the tournament as a whole turned out to be the most difficult for the national team.

In the group stage, the USA were beaten only in extra time, and in Paraguay - in a penalty shootout.

It was not easy in the playoffs.

To begin with, Mikhail Likhachev's wards almost missed the victory over Spain with the ambiguous work of the judges, and then miraculously escaped defeat in the already mentioned duel with the Alps and again turned out to be stronger in the "lottery".

The game was not always easy for the team, but it prevailed thanks to the corporate character and the fans.

Ironically, the two-time world champions did not have the slightest problem only in the match of the last round of the group stage - just with Japan.

Then the Russians defeated the opponent with a score of 7: 1, and even the goalkeeper Maxim Chuzhkov struck the other's goal.

However, it was in no way to underestimate the Asians, because in the rest of the meetings they won victories, including over the strong Tahiti national team and sensational Senegal - in the playoffs.

Thus, in the course of the tournament, the players of the playing coach Ozu Moreira scored an excellent move and for the first time in history made their way to the final of the world championship.

The fact that this success can hardly be called accidental is confirmed by the performance of Japan at the previous World Cup in Paraguay.

Then the team reached the semifinals, and in the match for the bronze they lost just to Russia - 4: 5.

And in general, the national team has never been inferior to this opponent in history.

The paths of the rivals crossed seven times in various tournaments, and in all cases Russia turned out to be stronger.

Perhaps this time the only problem for Likhachev's charges was the absence of defender Kirill Romanov, who had received a red card the day before.

Ferorotny took his place in the starting five.

As in the previous match, the beginning of the final confrontation was completely up to the hosts.

The first minutes were spent on reconnaissance in force, but then the national team seized the initiative and took the ball under its control.

The first goal was not long in coming.

The standard position helped to open an account.

After a magnificent ball into the game from the out-of-bounds performed by Anton Shkarin, who returned to Zemskov from under the defender, struck a great blow through himself.

It is symbolic that it was he who managed to hit someone else's gates, because before that, the striker in the current tournament distinguished himself only once - in a meeting with the same Japanese.

In the future, the Russians calmly controlled the course of the game, although they practically did not create dangerous moments.

I remember only a couple of Makarov's free-kicks.

However, for the time being, the opponent could not cross the middle of the site at all.

Likhachev's wards included high pressure, and, if necessary, broke the rules.

Thus, Boris Nikonorov and Andrey Novikov committed fouls near the goal.

Only closer to the break, the Asians managed to seize the advantage for a short time and inflict several shots on Chuzhkov's goal, but only a few of them were on target.

The only fly in the ointment was another replacement of Maxim at the end of the period.

By tradition, his place was taken by the reserve goalkeeper Stanislav Kosharny.

But the second period turned out to be much richer in events.

The teams finally stopped being cautious and selflessly began to cut for gold.

All this resulted in a large number of violations of the rules and penalties.

Hence, three goals at once from set pieces.

It took the Japanese just three seconds to level the score.

Ozu Moreira from the center of the site made a neat pass to Takuya Akagumu, and he just shot through himself, not really allowing Kosharny to feel the ball.

But the fans at the stadium did not even have time to get scared, because after six seconds the hosts regained their minimal advantage.

Yuri Krasheninnikov famously threw a shell for himself and got in his legs.

It took the experienced defender about a minute to recover, but as a result, he himself struck an accurate shot into the near corner and scored the second goal in the playoffs of the tournament.

And after two and a half minutes, the Russians took advantage of another free kick.

This time Novikov cleverly closed the ball with his body and earned a foul.

Further, the defender succeeded in a magnificent shot exactly in the far corner.

But the Japanese did not give up and quickly closed the score gap.

Nikonorov played extremely unsuccessfully in the selection on his half of the site.

The forward knocked down all the same Akagumu and gave the opponent a great opportunity to execute a penalty.

Takuya had no right not to take such a chance.

The last word in the period still remained with the Russian national team.

Ferorotny, who returned to the squad, struck not the most successful blow from the center of the site, but the goalkeeper was not ready for him and missed a shell at hand - 4: 2.

Thus, the defender scored his fifth goal in the tournament.

In the final period, the Japanese national team had no choice but to go ahead with the whole team.

And the national team had to go through a difficult period.

But even in the most unpleasant moments, he remained slender in defense.

Novikov threw himself into the selection.

I was hit on the head by Krasheninnikov.

Experienced Shishin and Shkarin worked in defense for three.

Finally, if the ball did reach the goal, the reliable Kosharny blocked his way into the net.

Of course, the fans drove Likhachev's charges splendidly.

I especially remembered the "starry sky" in their performance, when everyone lit flashlights on their phones and sang the famous song Maxim "Do you know".

The less time remained until the final whistle, the more hopeless the Japanese attacks became.

They themselves already understood that they would not be able to pull out this final, although by inertia they continued to go forward.

Kosharny had to step into the game less and less.

Finally, everything became clear after Krasheninnikov's goal a little more than two minutes before the end.

It was already unrealistic to win back three goals for the Asians.

With the final whistle on the set, the real madness began.

The Russian team in full force ran out onto the sand, and Likhachev hugged his charges.

The fans started chanting: “Well done”.

Thus, the national team fulfilled the task set before it and became the world champion for the first time in eight years.

And the whole country will remember this golden tournament for many years.