SAINT-PETERSBURG – MOLDOVA
January 11th, 2017; Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex, 700 spectators
Best players: Kazakov, Straistari
Post match comments
Vladimir Kazachionok, Head coach of team St. Petersburg:
– It was a good and intense game. Although I have to admit our team usually does not have easy matches. We’re happy to sort out an issue with getting to the next round, because the calendar is tough. We have losses already caused by injuries and cards. We’re satisfied with the rest.
– You have no goals conceded in your team statistics for this match. Is this an indicator that your team and its defense made the right conclusions?
– It’s pleasant! But as a coach I am never happy with everything. It’s very important for me that the boys are constantly developing and learning and that they do not want to seize growing. I have an example of myself when being 24 I was thinking I play like a god, but being 26 I understood I had multiple drawbacks. We’ve corrected ourselves in some aspects, but, for instance, we’ve got many cards. This is a problem now since we have only a couple of defenders available for rotation.
– Why did you make a substitution almost in the beginning of the match?
– Unfortunately, two players got sick before this match. Efim Boitsov was not even included into the line-up. Dmitry Sukonkin made it to the starting eleven, but I had to substitute him on the 18th minute to prevent further progress of his illness.
– The next match does not play any role for you with regard to the tournament standings. Will you make any changes?
– I will have to make them anyways. I’ll repeat that we already have injured and sick players as well as those who are booked. It’s hard to imagine the line-up for the next game at the moment.
– Aren’t you unhappy that you’re meeting Slovenia that defeated your team in the final match last year on such an early stage?
– I’ve told already that Slovenia is our big rival. We shall fight against them regardless the tournament stage.
– Have you got a chance to watch Slovenia this year?
– There are no weak teams on this contest. Each team becomes better with each match here. I can assure you that at least in our group all the teams have absolutely equal level. I was surprised to find out that Slovenia scored its first goal only today. I was even scared a bit that they would start scoring in our match.
Oleg Fistican, Head coach of team Moldova:
– I’d like to thank the opponent for the game. It’s fair that we’ve lost, even though we’ve also had dangerous attacks and scoring chances. I think we could have scored one or two goals.
– Throughout the match you were mostly addressing your shouts to Damascan. Is he the key player of your team?
– I wanted him to make his best to take control of the ball. At this point his physical condition does not let him do this. For example, forwards in team St. Petersburg managed to keep the ball, and I was asking Damascan to do the same. On the contrary, when Iurasco went onto the pitch adding speed and strength, we started to play better offensively.
– Let me address a question to you as an experienced coach. How do you treat your players: as developing youngsters or as mature sportsmen?
– They are youngsters, for sure. They make mistakes and they will continue to do so. They are still learning. The most important thing is for them to be ready to learn further. Sometimes there are those who start feeling themselves as professionals and begin teaching everyone around including coaches.
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