Match № 24

The match № 24, group D, sixth tournament day

TURKEY – SAINT PETERSBURG 3:1 (1:0)

January 8th, 2014, St. Petersburg, Peterburgsky SCC, 3500 spectators

Referees: Andrey Fisenko, Ivan Kichimasov, Andrey Kuzhelev

Turkey: Koyuncu, Demir Ar., Unver, Ozer, Bilem, Altintas (Yaman, 80), Aydin (c) (Vatansever, 78), Okutan (Kilic, 87), Сınar, Camoglu, Erdogan (Zengin, 90)

Head coach: Mehmet Hacioglu

St. Petersburg: Obukhov (c), Krivulkin, Ivanidi, Markin (Petrov, 67), Meschaninov, Pankov (Ivanov, 46), Agaragimov (Tankov, 86), Nazimov, Bukharov, Doroshenko (Yuryev, 46), Kubyshkin

Head coach: Vladimir Kazachenok

Goals: Camoglu (28), Ozer (67), Nazimov (84), Сınar (86)

Yellow cards: Camoglu (5), Bukharov (10), Kubyshkin (37)

Best players: Mustafa Batuhan Altintas, Ivan Ivanidi

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After match comments

Head coach of the team Turkey Mehmet Hacioglu:

– We watched the previous matches of team St. Petersburg against Latvia and Ukraine; noted leading players, some schemes of their performance, but anyway we decided to keep our own style and use our strong points.

– Do you have a constant contact with the head coach of the main national team of Turkey? Are there any players in your team who are ready to be the members of the main national team?

– The main aim of this team is preparation for European championship U-19 next year. We coordinate all our actions with the coach staff of the national team and at least 3 players from my squad can be prepared for them. But we are looking after the others and probably can prepare more players for the main national team.

–You have said that you analyzed strong and weak points of the opponent's team. Does it mean that you have a certain person in your staff who does this job?

– We watched the matches of all our opponents and also the matches of St. Petersburg, but we didn't make special analysis. We tried to play our game. We underlined some moments but didn't make a certain analysis.

Head coach of the team St.Petersburg Vladimir Kazachenok:

– I want to congratulate team Turkey: it was a fine game and a good football. Their coach said they had prepared for this game, but preparation is not all. We were preparing, too, but what is important is the implementation. The team of Turkey today accomplished the coach's instruction – I would say they've done it top-level. And I congratulate them with this, too.

– Your players started quite unconfident. Did they give up the initiative consciously or they just failed to take the game under control?

– Our plan for this game was to intercept the opponents high, make quick attacks and keep the density of lines. At first we could do it. But then we lost the ball so many times and so unexplainably that it would ruin any tactics. But I think playing high in tackling was the right decision.

– For your team draw would be all right today. It looked like the players came on the pitch thinking how not to make mistakes and not to spoil everything and the mistakes you talked about came from this thinking.

– There might have been such thoughts. The players, you see, are still not professionals, and this tournament was first for many of them, so they have 'burnt out' in some way, of course. We'll find it out. The very fact of losing the ball has undoubtedly broken the game. But let me note once again, any team plays as the opponent allows. The team of Turkey was so mobile today that we had neither time nor space for maneuvers. But, well, we study on it. And it's good that we had such strong teams in the group: Ukraine, Latvia, Turkey...

– How do you estimate the actions of the players who came for substitutions?

– One has to estimate the playing of the whole team. I've already told that we don't have players from the second team – all of them are equal. I wouldn't say those who came for substitution created the turning point, but they still managed to seize the initiative and allowed the team to play on the level of the opponent. But lack of attention and skill resulted with the third missed goal.

– Your colleague has said he will prepare one-three players for the main national team. How many players –

(interrupting) – Four! Four people from this team play in the national team of Russia! I want you to understand, no one player of this team was depraved of the chance to play on the highest level. Any of them may play in the Premier League in future.