Translated material
Royal Victoria
The Russian team won a strong-willed victory over England
Football Russia has acquired another memorable date. October 17 will go down in the history of the Russian national team as the day of victory over England - 2:1. Now it depends only on Guus Hiddink and his players whether yesterday's match at Luzhniki will become truly historic. There are two more victories left - over Israel on November 17 and over Andorra on November 21, and nothing will stop the Russian team from playing next summer at the European Championship. But even one misfire, and all heroic efforts will be useless.It’s not for nothing that Koreans and Australians, when Hiddink coached their national teams, wore T-shirts with the words “In Guus we trust” (“We believe in Gus”). And it’s not for nothing that Rud Gullit, when asked about the secret of Hiddink’s victories, jokingly noted that he buried a huge horseshoe under his house for good luck. The Horseshoe, apparently, is still there, and Guus Hiddink himself is doing everything to make people believe in him in Russia.
“We are proud of what we have achieved! - Hiddink burst into a smile after the match. - We lost our advantage in the first half. The opponent had one chance, from which they made one goal. And then we put pressure on them all the time. The opponent is tired. I am proud of the guys, they are a creative team, and today this creativity has also become effective. We prepared well and I am proud of our victory!”
Not only Hiddink prepared in detail for this victory in the football war with England. In the last hours before the starting whistle, news agencies broadcast reports of military operations. The first blows were struck on the enemy on Wednesday night - six British fans who came to the match were beaten in different parts of Moscow. Even 11 Scotland Yard agents who arrived in Russia to ensure the safety of subjects of the British crown could not save the British from traumatic brain injuries.
At first, more than four thousand Britons felt quite comfortable in the crowded Luzhniki bowl. Every now and then the English anthem “God Save the Queen” made its way through the indistinct 70,000-strong roar. But at the end of the game it was already clear that the football god was not for the English that evening. Minor clashes between fans continued after the game.
Despite the huge excitement (570 thousand fans expressed a desire to spend the evening at Luzhniki only according to official requests), tickets for the match could be purchased even on the day of the game. Prices ranged from 2.5 to 15 thousand rubles. per ticket, and speculators were ready to provide a full range - if desired, one could get into the seats provided to the All-Russian Fans Association, and into the stands, tickets for which were sold by collective requests, and in sectors reserved for partners and sponsors of the Russian Football Union . RFU President Vitaly Mutko promised the day before that law enforcement agencies would conduct test purchases and identify resellers, but now he has no time for that - he must prepare for the away game with Israel.
After the first half, however, it seemed that the last two matches of the Russian national team in this qualifying round would turn into a formality. As England head coach Stephen McClaren predicted, the hosts went ahead from the first minutes and spent almost half the half in the opposing half of the field. During this time, several half-chances were created, and once the English goalkeeper Paul Robinson even managed to show off his reaction, deflecting the ball into the near corner after Zyryanov's long-range strike.
After 20 minutes, as McLaren predicted, the Russians' ardor subsided. The guests, realizing that they could cope quite calmly with the hosts’ positional attacks, made several counterattacks in response. One of them somehow ended too casually with a goal: a long pass to Owen, a header to Rooney, and he calmly dispatched Gabulov with a half-volley. England's signature attack is how they score two out of five goals. And Guus Hiddink could only wave his hand - all his words about the importance of concentrating at every second of the game seemed to go unheard again.
We finished the half with the same mood - without much faith in success. They seemed to control the ball, but without any chances, they seemed to earn corners and free kicks, but for the English these were not threats. And Luzhniki fell silent, maintaining hope only for a miracle.
However, there were several authors for the miracle that the stands were waiting for. Guus Hiddink first sent Torbinsky onto the field, and then Pavlyuchenko, thereby restructuring the game. Konstantin Zyryanov made a brave raid into the penalty area, which was interrupted by Rooney with an illegal move. Referee Luis Medina Cantalejo decided for himself that the violation was in the penalty area. From all this a penalty was born, which Roman Pavlyuchenko confidently converted.
“This is an unfair decision! - Potentially unemployed Stephen McClaren was indignant after the match. - The rule was violated against the Russian outside the penalty area. I just watched the replay! The linesman did not react at all to the moment. The judge himself made the decision, and he was far away. Moments like these turn matches around.”
McClaren was right - the penalty really turned the tide of the game. Having opened the gates of others, the Russian team finally believed in itself, realized that it could fight on equal terms with such an opponent as the England team, and realized that it could win. Three minutes after the penalty, the hosts laid siege to the British goal. And in the end they achieved their goal. Alexey Berezutsky, who joined the attack, fired a shot on target, Robinson did not react too confidently, and Pavlyuchenko was the first to finish - 2:1!
There were still 20 minutes left before the final whistle - too much to immediately believe in victory. But during these minutes, the Russian team could have scored more goals than conceded. Now we can also say: we believe in Gus.