Translated material
Made in bronze
The Russian team stopped at the semi-finals
Yesterday the European Football Championship ended with the final match between Spain and Germany. For us it ended on Friday night. A little sooner than we hoped, but much later than many of us thought. And the Russian team therefore found itself in some uncertainty: small bronze medals are an undoubted success. The semi-final, completely lost to the Spaniards (0:3), is a failure that will not allow you to choke in delight. But the further that ill-fated match with the Spanish national team goes, the more and more weight the “bronze” gains.One of the main streets of Vienna - Mariahilfer Straäe - is entirely occupied by small and large shops. The sellers diligently changed the display case of one of them, checking the latest reports from the European Championship. The Dutch defeated the Italians, and now orange T-shirts are in the foreground, the Croats won against Germany - all in red and white chess squares, Turkey reached the semi-finals - and a crescent moon appeared. After the Russia-Holland quarterfinals, most of the display case was occupied by the Russian tricolor, and the most popular product was the white T-shirts of our team. In Austria, as well as throughout Europe, somehow at one moment, and not without surprise, they realized that they also play football in Russia. This is perhaps the main achievement of Guus Hiddink's team.
Before this, the Russian Premier League was perceived as nothing more than something exotic, but not worthy of special attention. Like, for example, the Mexican Championship, where with oil money local clubs can also afford to support aging stars and buy young talents from neighboring countries. After the national team reached the semi-finals of Euro 2008, a very real interest appeared in Russian football - not as something exotic, but as a completely competitive product, albeit with a certain national flavor.
It was this taste, and not the defeat to the Spanish national team - 0:3, that almost ruined everything. The Austrians, discussing that Vienna airport received 220 planes from Russia on the day of the semi-final, were sincerely perplexed why 170 of them were private. Spanish fans, and ours, too, for that matter, looked with irritation at the sector where long-legged drummers from Russia in hussar uniforms were located - at the European Championships, before this it was customary to support their teams only with their voices and hands. And the annoying beating at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna at the most inopportune moments silenced those who supported this team from the very first match, from that Spanish 1:4 in Innsbruck. Austria has seen different holidays over these three weeks. But the last thing she wanted was to turn into a place for a glamorous Russian party.
A fair score in the semi-final match with Spain only benefited Russia. Let there still be bitterness from the fact that we missed a more than real chance to profitably exchange “bronze” for “silver” or even, perhaps, “gold”. The fact that this chance existed was already an achievement, payment for the work done by the team. The fact that it was hardly possible to use it with the forces currently available is a warning to those who believe that what has been done is quite enough.
“My most memorable moment at this European Championships?” - asked team captain Sergei Semak half an hour after the end of the semi-final match. And a few seconds later he answered: “The first ball that hits our goal in today’s game. He essentially ruined our chances of winning this tournament.” A few days later there were different words, there were congratulations, there was a presentation of bronze medals at a team dinner at the hotel, there was a meeting at the airport, a celebration at Luzhniki. There will also be a reception with the Russian President, scheduled for Wednesday. But that goal from the Spaniards and the score 0:3 will remain a thorn that will make you dream of more. And the Russian flag on Mariahilfer Straäe will remind you that all this is possible.