"They were under a lot of pressure"

In the current international environment, the search for rivals for the Russian national football team has become a serious problem.

The story of the failed confrontation with Bosnia and Herzegovina turned out to be very indicative in this regard.

In early September, the parties reached an agreement to hold a friendly match, but after only a month and a half, it became known that it was postponed for an indefinite period.

The football union of the country has officially notified that the game will not take place on November 19.

Following the meeting of the executive committee of the organization, its head Viko Zeljkovic stressed that the match might take place in the future.

In the RFU, they reacted calmly to what happened, saying that they assumed such a scenario and started looking for other rivals in advance.

“The plan for the upcoming training camp will not be violated, two games are expected to be held.

The first rival will be Tajikistan, the second will be announced in the near future,” the RFU communications service noted.

In turn, the honorary president of the organization, Vyacheslav Koloskov, considered the refusal of the Bosnians a political gesture and suggested that they were forced to accept it due to unprecedented pressure.

“As soon as I heard about the confrontation between the two sides of the Football Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it became clear to me that there would be no match.

It is clear that in this regard they were under strong pressure from other federations.

Well, this is not a sport, but politics.

There is no smell of football here at all, ”the Sport-Express functionary quotes.

Yes, and the head coach of the domestic national team Valery Karpin, the other day, suggested that the meeting would most likely not take place.

“It’s not my problem who negotiates with whom and why something doesn’t happen,” the specialist complained.

As already mentioned, the possible cancellation of the confrontation did not come as a surprise, because the leaders of the Balkan team Miralem Pyanich and Edin Dzeko announced their reluctance to fly to Russia.

Later, other partners joined them, in particular, Dennis Hadzhikadunich, who previously played for Rostov.

Athletes rested on the fact that no one asked their opinion on the choice of an opponent.

Azmir Husich, a member of the executive committee of the FSBH, also spoke out sharply against it, promising to do everything to prevent the game from taking place.

The Ukrainian Football Association also made its contribution, demanding from UEFA and FIFA not to allow it to be held.

However, the Bosnians delayed the answer to the last and, as a result, did not dare to abandon the game, announcing only its postponement.

Agreement with Tajikistan and negotiations with Uzbekistan

Meanwhile, the national team of Tajikistan will become the new rival of Karpin's wards.

The match will be held on November 17 in Dushanbe.

The level of the opponent is quite modest.

He occupies only 108th place in the FIFA rankings and has never played in the final stages of major international tournaments.

However, next year Petar Szegrt's team is waiting for their debut at the Asian Cup.

It was possible to break through there largely due to the expansion of the number of participants to 24.

There are no stars in the team either.

Most local performers perform in Asia or not in the strongest European championships.

Only Parvizjon Umarbaev, who defended the colors of several Russian clubs, stands out, and has been playing in Bulgaria for six years.

With Lokomotiv from Plovdiv, he even won three trophies: two Cups of the country and one Super Cup.

But the arrival of Karpin's wards is guaranteed to be a holiday for Tajikistan.

According to the press officer of the local federation Faridun Saliev, it will arouse great interest, since the hosts have not met with rivals of this level for a long time, and they have never played with Russia.

“Still, this is a quarter-finalist of the World Cup.

This year, our team for the first time in history made it to the final of the Asian Cup.

And a friendly match with Russia will serve as a good stage of preparation for the tournament.

According to the signed agreement, both sides ensure participation in the upcoming meeting in Dushanbe in the strongest possible compositions,” Saliev stressed.

Surkhon Termiz defender Zoir Juraboev spoke warmly about the guests, putting them on a par with the national teams of Australia and Japan and calling the sanctions imposed on the country by FIFA and UEFA unfair.

This series of meetings with Asian teams from the post-Soviet space may not end.

According to media reports, a match with Iran in November is also unlikely due to the busy schedule of the latter.

That is why Uzbekistan is called the new possible opponent of the Russians, with which they can play on the road on the 20th.

Karpin did not refute this information either.

“Talks are underway.

And how will they agree, if they agree, they will announce it.

If the first match is on the 17th, then the earliest we can play the second is November 20th.

In extreme cases - on the 19th, ”the coach emphasized.

“We need to get used to the new realities”

For experts interviewed by RT, the postponement of the meeting with Bosnia and Herzegovina for an indefinite period was also not a surprise.

Moreover, the former captain of the national team, Alexander Mostovoy, believes that other teams from the Old World will not agree to play with her in the near future.

“When the first wave of refusals came from the Bosnian stars, I immediately said that nothing would happen.

Someone began to say, they say, these will not go, others will go.

Wait, but this is the national team.

I am sure that other local players would not agree to play with Russia.

Of course, from the point of view of sports, there is nothing good in what happened.

But we need to get used to the new realities and confront Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan,” Mostovoy complained.

A well-known coach Andrey Kobelev agreed with him.

He said that at least until 2024, meetings with European teams are practically excluded.

“The refusal of the Bosnians only says that until 2024 no one will definitely play with us.

And this applies not only to official competitions, but also to control meetings.

We were no longer allowed to qualify for Euro 2024.

But when all restrictions are lifted, Karpin’s wards will again be able to play with the strongest, ”the specialist expressed hope.

At the same time, according to him, despite all the prohibitions, the national team should still get together and play regularly even with not the most powerful opponents.

“The level of the national team primarily depends on the level of the players who defend its colors.

And if in their clubs they lose the opportunity to focus on good European teams, the class will invariably go down.

To understand where we are, it is necessary to hold international meetings ... Yes, we have to stew in our own juice, but we cannot limit ourselves to our own championship and close ourselves off from the whole world, ”added the coach.

And Mostovoy spoke about another problem that domestic football players may face after the lifting of sanctions.

Playing with modest Asian teams and regularly winning, they run the risk of failing to reach the European level.

“It is clear that such meetings will have a negative impact on Karpin’s wards.

But we will understand this only when UEFA and FIFA lift the ban, if this happens in the near future.

Alas, no one will give such guarantees now.

It’s one thing when you play in your “village” and leave no chance for anyone there, and another thing is to hit really strong opponents.

After victories over inferior opponents, it will be easy to feel like kings, and the return can be painful, ”summed up the expert.