Translated material
Week calendar
Once upon a time, matches of the Russian national team against teams from dwarf states like Liechtenstein did not cause any excitement in the country. Even if they were not broadcast on television, no one was worried about this; the fans added points to the Russians in advance for winning. Now, against the background of our team’s pale performance in the qualifying round, the outcome of the meeting with football players from a state with an area of only 157 square meters. km (seven times less than Moscow) seems unpredictable. This is probably why the upcoming match is the highlight of the sports week. The pre-match press conference is broadcast live (Sport, August 30, 13.30), and the match itself was included in Saturday prime time on the country’s main channel (First, 19.00). Spartak player Yegor Titov, called up to the national team after an almost two-year break, already stated in one of his interviews: “This is the most important game for us.” Indeed, one can consider Liechtenstein a dwarf, but one can recall the results of matches already played in our group. Russia lost to the Portuguese 1:7, and the principality's team achieved an honorable draw against the European vice-champions - 2:2. A total of 22 qualifying matches will be played in Europe on Saturday.
BASKETBALL. September 2-4. European Championship. Women. Preliminary stage. Izmir, Bursa (Türkiye).
The Russian national team will play its opening match as the current European champion on Friday against the outsider of Izmir Group “B” Romania. The tournament will be covered in an unprecedentedly large volume by the national TV channel "Sport" - the live broadcast of this meeting will begin on September 2 at 16.55. Igor Grudin, who took over our team after a ten-year break, has a special regard for the Romanians - in the Euro 1995 qualifying round, they almost blocked the Russians’ path to the final tournament, making the head coach pretty nervous. Our girls then only needed a victory, which in the end was achieved at the cost of incredible efforts and great nerves, because after the first half of the meeting, the future bronze medalists were seven points behind.
On Saturday, Russia plays with the hosts of the championship (Sport, 21.25). Turkish women were once considered continental middling in women's basketball, but now they are beating us at the junior level. The most difficult match of the week is with Spain on Sunday (Sport, 22.15). At the previous European Championship, which was victorious for us, the Russians played twice against girls from the Iberian Peninsula - they lost in the group (61:64), and prevailed in the semifinals (78:71).
VOLLEYBALL. September 3-4. European Championship. Men. 1st-2nd rounds of the preliminary stage. Rome (Italy), Belgrade (Serbia and Montenegro). August 29 - September 1. World Junior Championships. Algeria.
The upcoming championship of the Old World is unusual - for the first time it will be held on the territory of two countries at once. At the preliminary stage, our team will play in Rome. According to the schedule, it will start on September 3 with a game against not the most difficult opponent - Ukraine (Sport, 1.40 on Sunday night). The next match with Poland (Sport, 0.35 on Monday night) promises to be much more interesting. At the qualifying tournament for the 2006 World Cup, the Russians needed to play five games to defeat this team. Also in our group are Italy, Portugal and Croatia.
During the months-long preparation for the European Championship, Serbian coach Zoran Gajic, for whom the tournament will be the first serious test, attracted more than two dozen candidates to the national team. However, in the end, the composition of the team is a somewhat “lightened” copy of the team that won bronze at the Olympics in Athens under the leadership of Gennady Shipulin. Due to a coaching decision, the most experienced setter Vadim Khamuttskikh and one of the best receivers in the country Alexander Kosareva are absent; for health reasons, central blocker Alexei Kuleshov will not be able to help his partners.
TENNIS. August 29 -- September 4. US Open. New York.
In the main draw of the singles tournament, 19 Russians will compete - five men and 14 girls, who received this right based on the rating. Alas, no one was added to this number after qualifying. A year ago, two Russians met in the US Open final - Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Elena Dementieva. We can hardly expect such an outstanding result this season. With the exception of Maria Sharapova, the rest of our compatriots with the return of Belgians Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters to the WTA tour went back to secondary roles. One of the main intrigues of the women's tournament is the fight between Sharapova and Lindsay Davenport for the title of first racket of the world in the WTA classification, which will be updated immediately after the end of the competition.
CYCLE HIGHWAY. Stage race of the Grand Tour series “Vuelta a España”. 3--9 stages.
The successful start of Russian Denis Menshov, who won the prologue in Granada, significantly increased the interest of Russian fans in the last super stage race of the season. The longest stage, 232 km long, will take place on Tuesday, although it does not include a single intermediate mountain finish. But on Thursday, in the last kilometers of the distance, the riders will face a steep climb to the top of the first category of difficulty. Serious changes to the general classification should be made by Sunday's 48 km time trial race, which will finish at Barcelona's famous Nou Camp stadium. The beginning of the Vuelta showed that Menshov should be among the favorites in the time trials.
HOCKEY. September 2-4. The first stage of the Eurotour is the Ceske Pojistovna Cup.
The Russian national team, led by the mentor of the champion from the wound of the capital Dynamo Vladimir Krikunov, will play the first match not in the Czech Republic, but on its home ice in St. Petersburg against Sweden (Sport, 2.00 on Saturday night). The practice of moving one game at the stages of the Eurotour to another country has existed for a long time, however, the Russians will take advantage of such a benefit for the first time. On Saturday, Krikunov’s team meets with Finland (“Sport”, 15.55), the next day - with the hosts of the Cup “Ceske Poyishtovna” (“Sport”, 19.55).
ATHLETICS. September 4. The sixth stage of the “Golden League”. Berlin (Germany).