Match № 1

The match № 1, group stage, first tournament day

BELARUS – I. R. IRAN 0:3 (0:1)

January 3rd, 2014, St. Petersburg, Peterburgsky SCC, 200 spectators

Referees: Artyom Chistyakov, Aleksandr Rodionov, Andrei Kuzhelev

Belarus: Shcharbitski (g), Paulavets (c), Kastsiushkin, Valynets, Tarakanau (Vasilyeu, 63), Shauchenka (Chmyrykau, 77), Klimovich (Kastsiuchyk, 74), Yarotski (Sarokin, 53), Lukashyk (Kukharchyk, 61), Nosko (Baiduk, 70), Shybun

Head coach: Viktar Barel

I. R. Iran: Niazmand (g), Joudaki (c), Salimi, Hosseini, Sarlak, Bazaj (Moharrami, 75), Seyyedi Haghnazari (Soleimani, 78), Najarian (Seyyedi, 75), Hashemi (Sohrabian, 80), Aghaei (Moghtadaei, 87), Ezzati (Baghdadi, 58)

Head coach: Ali Dousti Mehr

Goals: Aghaei (9), Baghdadi (56), Najarian (67)

Best players: Mikita Valynets, Siavash Haghnazari

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After match comments

Head coach of the team Belarus Viktar Barel:

– I'd like first to congratulate team Iran with their brilliant play and victory. I could see that the team is well established, all the more they've recently played at the World Cup.

– Last year you came here as an assistant coach, and now you are the head coach. What's your estimation of the performance of your team?

– Surely, being head coach means higher responsibility. So far it's difficult to estimate my players. They played 50-60% of their fitness. We tried different tactical schemes: 4-3-3, and 4-4-2. The conclusion is that we have to strengthen and correct each of the lines. We are going to let every player the chance to perform at this tournament.

– What is the main aim for the tournament?

– Currently our aim is to create the backbone of the team which will compete at the European Championship qualifiers, starting from the October. There we have quite a challenging group which contains England, Belgium and Luxemburg. But neither of them is really hopeless to play against. What we need is the balance in lines.

Head coach of the team I. R. Iran Dousti Mehr Ali:

– I want to thank the organizers of the tournament for the high level of the competitions, and for the lineup of participants. When we call home we say we are just playing at a small World Cup.

– What difficulties have you faced with your opponent? Or, with the score?

– Our today's opponent is technically and tactically skilled. They showed a lower physical preparation, but it can be easily trained. All the teams which came here are still far from their best fit, but they will be improving from game to game. And we will be preparing for the next match in a good frame of mind!

– Was it hard to play on the artificial field?

– Not at all. We've played on such fields, including the trainings in Germany. The quality of the field is good. I can't say so far that we felt any difference.