Articles

SAINT PETERSBURG – BELARUS 3:1 (1:1)

January 6th, 2016, St. Petersburg, Peterburgsky SCC, 1500 spectators

Best players: Ivan Obliakov, Pavel Pauliuchenka

Post match comments

Vladimir Kazachionok, Head coach of team St. Petersburg:

– I think the match was exciting for the spectators. At least till that moment when the teams began losing their strength and freshness. We struggle to align our shape, as well as the other teams. That's why the ending of the game was not that good unlike the first 60 minutes. We saw quality in play from both teams.

– Why did you substitute Kazakov?

– This is a young player, born in 1999. He could not find his place in the game today. So I wanted to make a substitution in the first half already in order to give a new player an opportunity to feel the game tempo before half-time. All the other substitutions were more or less planned, since we are playing tomorrow and we kept this in mind.

– Usually it is considered that a fast goal helps a team, but today a goal conceded turned out to be helpful. Was this sort of a "kick"?

– We simply conceded very early and our thinking was not straight. But we warned the guys and showed them that the Belarus players are throwing the ball far and that they look great fighting for the ball. But these are youngsters who cannot keep this in their heads for two hours.

– There are coaches who prefer 5:4 wins and there are those who like 1:0. Are you OK with winning but conceding much?

– When a team wants to win, it has to score. Even if you don't concede you need to score attacking. So, if the team is confident that it can score then I welcome this entirely. And we are setting this objective for the players ourselves.

Mikhail Markhel, Head coach of team Belarus:

– I think we deserved the loss. The score shows the way the game was developing. Surely we are not satisfied with the result. We'll have to find out the reason "hot on the heels". But it seems to me the reason is in psychology. I know how our guys can play. And today they haven't shown even half of what they are able to.

– You made the first substitution already in the middle of the first half. What was the reason?

– Our player was injured, so we had to substitute him.

– Kuptsou attacked the goals on the 72nd minute in a three to two attack but the ball went wide. The team seemed to lose enthusiasm after that. Is this impression wrong?

– Yes, we had several moments, including this one by Shvetsou. Just use this chance and it's done. But in this game we did not manage to create lots of such moments, and we lack individual skills to convert them. We are not able to play right to finish a moment. And though this happens in football, I am still not satisfied as a coach.

– You named your goalkeeper the best player of the match. Well, he really saved the team from goals several times but also conceded three goals. Why did you choose him?

– We wanted to support him and to thank him. Indeed, he conceded three goals but a few times he saved the goals and us from a greater loss. We didn't want to name any of the field players the best, for there were no worthy candidates. So we chose Pauliuchenka, and I believe this choice was correct.

#14 St. Petersburg – Belarus