Articles

MOLDOVA – KAZAKHSTAN 0:1 (0:0)

January 9th, 2016, St. Petersburg, Peterburgsky SCC, 150 spectators

Best players: Artur Forca, Alibek Kassym

Post match comments

Veaceslav Rusnac, Head coach of team Moldova:

– We expected a tough play today. And it was tough. We warned the guys, but obviously we didn't manage to pass the message to everyone. We've had a situation similar to the match against Finland. But we had a quantitative advantage there and decided that the game was done but failed to use this. It was the same today as we thought that since we've played a draw against Russia then we would easily outplay Kazakhstan. This is a psychological issue. We had minor individual mistakes made by each player that generally led to defeat.

– You were giving advice about something to your side midfielder Belousov during the entire match. Were you not content with his actions?

– You see, he plays for the youth team of Sheriff in the Moldovian Championship where they "overthrow" everyone. He lacks the sense of responsibility and he gets involved into too many activities. He constantly needs to be urged to keep him attentive.

– Unlike the opponent you've had an extra day-off. Was it helpful for you to better prepare for the match?

– I don't think so. We surely spent much energy in our match against Russia and didn't have time to recover completely before this game. Even if we played two days in a row, our concentration would be the same. The main reason of our loss was, if you let me repeat myself, the self-reassurance after the draw with the tournament home team.

– Throughout the entire tournament irrespective of the result you substitute one of your leaders Stina to Slivca in the second half. Could you explain this?

– I'm trying to change the two side midfielders in order to refresh the play and speed it up. If you noticed, for example today we played two center forwards in order to make as many crosses as possible. Slivca was the one to break through and make crosses. Stina plays differently. He is better individually.

– It seemed that today you were not ready that Kazakhstan would give initiative to you...

– Yes, we are not used to playing the first role. We played against the opponents who were dominating on the pitch before. And we were counting on counter-attacks. You need time to organize a play concentrating on attack in a team, whereas we've only had five days.

Oirat Saduov, Head coach of team Kazakhstan:

– We knew of course that Moldova would be playing to win. In certain outcome they could finish second in the group. And we were achieving our own local objectives. We had a goal to win and I am very happy we managed to get our first Granatkin Memorial win. I've told at the last press-conference that we are moving up step-by-step. I want to thank my team for showing character today, executing the game plan and treating words of the coaching staff responsibly. Moldova is a strong opponent and we were struggling to beat them. The more valuable is the win!

– Judging by the standings and by what you've said that "the team is moving up step-by-step", it turns out that you should win the next match with a big score...

– Well, yes, if one follows your logic, then it should be so (smiling). To be serious, we all understand that football is an unpredictable game and single moments influence the match result. So I won't make predictions. But our progress is obvious and it's impressive.

– Serious injuries follow your team. You've lost two key players already and today the goalkeeper was injured as well. What is the reason? And how are you planning to resolve the issue with a goalkeeper position?

– Podymskiy is our main goalkeeper, and it's a huge loss for us. He has his finger injured, which is very common for goalkeepers. Our doctors gave him first treatment and we'll find out how bad the injury is in the evening. Now Bekkhan Shaizada has taken Danil's position in the goals. We did not bring any other goalkeepers here.

#23 Moldova – Kazakhstan