Articles

Kazakhstan – Estonia 2:2

Group B, 08.01.2016, 12:00

Best players: Danil Podymskiy, Robert Lepik

Post match comments

Oirat Saduov, Head coach of team Kazakhstan:

– The game was vivid and quite complicated. I can say that for our team this was one of the best matches. Before the scored goal I had no pretensions to my team at all. Afterwards the guys seemed to be so scared by the result that lost the track of the game.

– It's probably worth noting that this was your first goal at the tournament.

– Yes, and I truly hope that psychological barrier of our attackers is passed. Well, returning to the game, I wish they have made use of the moments they've got. But I am still grateful to my guys that after the second conceded goal – the penalty kick – they didn't give up and found forces to score a goal. It's a pity that the third game in a row end we are conceding unnecessary goals. We have some problems to solve.

– Does Kazakhstan have a reserve for this age?

– I've said already that I brought an almost new team here. We are still building it up. We brought a promising forward here, but he is one year younger. However, we still have other guys in Kazakhstan who we are following.

– Your coaches and reserve players were reacting quite emotionally on some decisions of the referee. Can you tell the reasons now? Were those just emotions?

– Emotions appeared after the awarded penalty kick. The referee took quite a long time to think it over before he made a decision. But this was only in the end of the match. I said to the fourth official jokingly: "Now you've turned us on!"

– It has not been the luckiest tournament for your team so far. What will you tell your guys before the game against Moldova?

– I don't think there will be any problems with motivation or the attitude to the upcoming match. The guys are grown-ups. Today we've got the first point. Now we need to set the next threshold. We have to perform better, progressing from game to game. The guys must prove that we were not wrong to have taken them here. We still have qualifications ahead.

– You named the goalkeeper as the best player in your team. Do you really think so or is this an educational moment?

– The entire team played well today. But we had to choose the best. We chose the goalkeeper as an "advance" gesture and as a way to show our gratitude and trust in him! Danil was great.

Marko Lelov, Head coach of team Estonia:

– Kazakhstan was better today. They outplayed us. And they deserved to win more. I am not happy with the result. It seems we spent more time attacking, but eventually we missed two counter-attacks and conceded two goals. In fact there's no excuse when the team is leading throughout two matches but loses victory in the end of both. This should not happen.

– Your team has finished playing at the group stage. Could you share some conclusions?

– Yes, there are no more games left for us in the group, but the situation is not clear yet. Depending on different results we can finish second or last. Other teams will now define the final standings. We only have to wait.

– Are the final group standings important for you?

– Yes, they are definitely important.

– Looking at the match stats, your guys got more yellow cards, although the team did not seem to be rude...

– Yes, this is so. But I wouldn't connect this with fatigue. It's more likely dependant on the individual characters of players. They were looking "heads high" at the opponents. And when Kazakhstan started to bring troubles, our players switched to playing a little rough. Players should develop their character.

#19 Kazakhstan – Estonia