Translated material
The process is better than the result
The Russian team returns from Germany without points, but in a good mood
The trip to Dortmund for the match with the favorite of Group 4 for the Russian national team turned out to be controversial. The head coach of the Russian team, Guus Hiddink, admitted that he received great pleasure from the performance that his players showed in the match against Germany, even though they lost 1:2. But the times when the Russian national team could be satisfied only with the fact that it looked decent on the field of an eminent opponent are gone - a year later, at the end of the qualifying cycle, it is necessary to count the points scored by the team, and not the positive emotions of its head coach.The minimal defeat away from Germany was generally received with enthusiasm. The leadership of the Russian Football Union, it seems, did not know at all what to expect from the match in Dortmund, and were seriously afraid that after the rise associated with the successful performance at Euro 2008, a painful fall would follow. Therefore, the tone of the statements of the head of the RFU Vitaly Mutko, as the date of the meeting with the European vice-champions approached, changed from enthusiastically optimistic to cautiously philosophical. On the eve of the game, the Minister of Sports even recalled the match in England, in which “we lost, but looked decent.” Worthy - it's 0:3 at Wembley.
The only thing that Vitaly Mutko refused to discuss with journalists was the situation with Guus Hiddink's contract. The President of the RFU refused to cooperate with the National Football Academy, which provided the salary of the head coach of the Russian national team: the NAF was very unhappy that Mutko arbitrarily announced an allegedly signed contract with Hiddink until 2010, and the head of the federation did not want to mitigate the conflict. Now the Russian Football Union is forced to bear all the expenses “for Hiddink”. Until the bonuses received from UEFA for successful performance at Euro 2008 run out, the federation may bear a similar financial burden. At the same time, the RFU continues an intensive search for a sponsor willing to take on this burden. But in the context of the financial crisis, there are no people willing to pay for Hiddink’s contract yet.
In Dortmund, however, all financial issues faded into the background. There was a real opportunity to take points away from the favorite - the head coach of the German national team, Joachim Loew, had too many problems. Yes, Michael Ballack, who missed the match against the Finns (3:3), returned to the lineup. But the Germans' defensible line and the injury to main goalkeeper Enke instilled optimism in Russian fans, players and, possibly, Guus Hiddink. He, all red, spent almost the entire match on his feet. And what made him jump up was a scoring chance missed by Pavel Pogrebnyak already in the fourth minute of the match.
This opportunity, however, was almost the only one provided to the guests at the start of the game. The Bundesteam, looking around, carried out several powerful attacks, which were actively supported by Schweinsteiger on the left and Ballack in the center. As a result, these two created the biggest problems for Hiddink's team, even though the first goal was scored by the third - Podolski. Having pushed through the Russian defense in the center in the 9th minute, the forward powerfully shot into the near corner. After 20 minutes, Schweinsteiger and Ballack scored the second goal, and things began to look like about the same defeat as at Wembley a year ago, which Vitaly Mutko recalled the day before.
But during this most successful year in its history, the Russian team really learned a lot, and most importantly, they are not afraid to move forward if the situation demands it. Returning to the version already practiced at the Euro with Zhirkov as a full-back, the Russian team significantly increased its speed. It was ensured not only by Arshavin, who acted along the entire front of the attack and created most of the chances at Adler’s goal, but also by 18-year-old Dzagoev, who made his debut in the national team.
But the goal that gave Russia hope for a successful outcome was scored not by the attacking players, but by the full back. Anyukov, who connected on his right flank, even after losing the ball, decided to attack to the last. His persistence was rewarded, and, having regained the ball, the Russian defender penetrated into someone else's penalty area and rolled it straight along the goal ribbon to Arshavin, who could only substitute his leg - 1:2.
The Russian team still had enough time for more sophisticated combinations, as well as long-range shots and standard positions. And many of them were very dangerous, but did not bring results. “I believe that the German team still deserved this victory,” Joachim Loew was adamant. - We had a lot of chances in the first half. If we had scored the third goal, the game would have ended before the break."
The Russian team had its own “what ifs”. For example, if Dzagoev’s shot in the last minutes had landed a couple of centimeters to the right, the ball would have bounced off the post not into the field, but into the goal. And then Guus Hiddink would enjoy not only football as a spectacle, but also the result and potential leadership.
Match results. Group 4. Germany - Russia - 2:1 (Podolski 9, Ballack 28 - Arshavin 51 ), Finland - Azerbaijan - 1:0 (Forssell 61 pen.) , Wales - Liechtenstein - 2:0 (Edwards 42, Evans 80) .