NonVictory

Belarusian national football team is lacking for a talented psychologist. I mean, surely such one exists and is even working with the players. Yet, it seems that all his or her efforts are in vain. Our footballers produce an excellent impression in the games which don’t decide anything. But they always lose the matches where there is a struggle for a place or a waybill to the next round. The load or responsibility is hanging over the team and two recent matches between Belarusians, Ukrainians and Croats only prove the rule.

Belarusian national football team is lacking for a talented psychologist. I mean, surely such one exists and is even working with the players. Yet, it seems that all his or her efforts are in vain. Our footballers produce an excellent impression in the games which don’t decide anything. But they always lose the matches where there is a struggle for a place or a waybill to the next round. The load or responsibility is hanging over the team and two recent matches between Belarusians, Ukrainians and Croats only prove the rule.

In the game with the Ukrainians we saw an excellent, selfless Belarusian team. Devotion, efficiency, struggle for the ball even on the verge of breaking the rules – all these qualities were demonstrated by the footballers. They stood by each other, with all their might rushed to the attack and returned to their goal in an organized way. The same way Borisov BATE struggled and scored a success in the matches with eminent rivals. Perhaps, this is the way Belarusian football should be – based not on talents of individuals, masters of dribbling and slalom passes, but on mutual understanding and assistance.

Yesterday Zhevnov was himself – played calmly and responsibly. It is not for nothing that in the Russian championship FC “Moskva” scores not that much but always stays in the leader group. One would memorize Shitov who now and then resembled his former clubmate Khagush. He was accomplishing daring passages that intensified attacks and was quickly going back and then working out in the defence. Yurevich was trying to keep pace with him but here we should take into account the “over-youthful” age of the former. On the whole, the defensive line copied from BATE and reinforced with Omelianchuk looked rather confidently. European cup battles of the last two years have noticeably added to the players’ experience.

One wished Verkhovtsev had played as well, but he was missing due to the excess of yellow cards. During the match with Croats he took a disappointing false step and surely wanted to rehabilitate himself before the fans. In the immediate past having found himself in a similar psychological situation Sosnovski not only rehabilitated himself but sent BATE and the whole Belarus to a group round of Europe’s League.

Alexander Gleb was and stays the leader of the team. The main thing to remember is that he is a human being and therefore he is flesh and blood. Today his physical and psychological conditions are far from ideal which is quite noticeable in the playing field. Moreover, if Belarusian national team starts playing around the senior Gleb and the competitor guesses their intentions, the team collapses.

To my mind, Kutuzov was the best in the match with Ukraine. He was everywhere in time, attacked and worked out in the defence. It is obvious that the Italian club “Bari” hasn’t regretted leaving him in the first team having reached round “A”. Maybe Sivakov who plays for another Italian club “Kaliari” will grow from an up-and-coming to a highly skilled player.

Yesterday Belarusians lacked not even one more pass but a telling kick. Sometimes they simply were not lucky like the one-on-one situation with Alexander Gleb. Sometimes they need to be more exact (one can recall Kornilenko’s kick just before his substitution).

The work of Belarusian Football Association deserves a “special mention”. Yesterday, in order to cover the emptiness of stands they gathered pupils from Minsk schools. One wishes the federation would act in a cleverer way. After a disastrous match with Croats it was obvious that the fans would be difficult to find. However, ticket prices hadn’t decreased even a little bit. If our national team needs support and there is no certainty that 35 thousand people will come to the stadium then the price of tickets should be minimal. In this case there will be no necessity in “forced” fans.

S.Tereschenko, non-indiffirent fan.