diets

Five main "guns" of Russian football. Do you plan to play at a professional level again? - What kind of coach at Uralan was Igor Shalimov

I would like to thank Anna Vladimirovna Dmitrieva and all colleagues, including those who have left us, who helped me remember or turned out to be actors commentary stories in this book.

To my father, thanks to whom a childhood hobby became a profession

Foreword

I left the stands of the Basel stadium. 30 thousand fans quickly disappeared into the darkness. I went to the car with a satellite dish, from where my colleague Shmurnov made a live broadcast after the match on the Moscow air. By his intonation, I realized that there, at home, euphoria. I felt nothing but wild fatigue, and had no idea that there, in Russia, there was a holiday, millions of people poured out onto the street and that it seemed that I was involved in something absolutely incredible. The phone was silent. The overloaded cellular network slowed down SMS until the morning. I did not wait for Shmurnov to finish his inclusion, and wandered on foot through the whole city to the hotel, remembering the reportage on the way: did he say everything he wanted, did he notice all the details, did he place all the accents. In general, self-digging, usual for a person of a creative profession. Restoring everything word for word was not difficult ...

Russia-Holland. Half an hour before the game

Good evening! AT live Switzerland, the city of Basel, and here the Russian team in a few minutes will begin the quarterfinal match against the Dutch team.

(the screen shows close-up very beautiful blonde in the crowd of Russian fans),

Our girls are the best, the whole world knows about it, and once again he was convinced of this, since quite a lot of Russian fans got to this Swiss city, although, unfortunately, of course, not the number that our team would need in the quarterfinals, because this is the first time in history Russian football, although it is not very long yet, but still it exists, and for the first time we are playing in the playoffs of such a serious tournament as the European Championship. The Dutch team is positioned here as main favorite tournament. The Dutch team played the best in the group with a very strong rivals: suffice it to recall that the World Cup finalists played in the same group with Holland, as well as stubborn Romanians, and Holland not only took one hundred percent of the points in this group, but also recorded the goal difference in their favor 9-1. But all this does not mean anything: the Russian team, having started the tournament with an unsuccessful game against Spain, then changed and scored maximum points with the Greeks and Swedes, and did not miss a single goal, and the game with Sweden made such a stunning impression on everyone here, that, you know, Guus Hiddink's pre-match press conference was literally impossible to get into. The huge press conference room was packed to capacity. At press conferences Russian teams I have never seen anything like this in other big tournaments. Moreover, at Hus's press conference, the overwhelming majority were Western European journalists - the Dutch, Germans, British, and so on. They all asked Gus questions, the press conference lasted 30 minutes, and Hiddink answered all questions in detail and with pleasure. In general, in any case, Russia has already left the impression that should have been left: they are treated with respect, and not just with respect - the Russian team is sincerely loved here, especially in the last two matches.

Yes, Holland is the favourite, yes, today almost the entire stadium will cheer for the Dutch, so what? As a rule, in such meetings, when one team seems to be easier in the sense that it does not risk anything, this is its main trump card. Our team has already received excellent reviews in the press, our team in good mood, and she can continue to play the football she showed against Sweden.

Good luck to the Russian team, good luck and beautiful game in the quarterfinals against the brightest team of this tournament,

(they show the stands, all orange, because almost the entire stadium is filled with Dutch fans dressed in orange)

and the Dutch are the brightest not only in the color of their uniforms, not only in their national orange color. Indeed they are. The stunning football against Italy and France is proof of that. As for our fans, this is not a very pleasant story, well, simply due to the fact that we have very little experience, in fact, the first experience for Russia of participating in such matches. It turns out that tickets could be bought at a special box office simply upon presentation of a Russian passport without any, for example, travel documents. As far as I understand, people who do not support Russia, are not interested in football and the national team, took advantage of this. In front of my eyes and in front of my colleagues, these tickets went away right there, at the box office, to the Dutch for a decent price. Very few fans who supported our team fantastically in Austria came to Switzerland, I met them walking around the city. Nevertheless, behind the gate to the right of us, there will be a small, but full sector with our fans, who will provide sound support to our team. All the rest are scattered around the stadium, the vast majority of the Dutch, so (addressing the viewers) the Russian team will also need your help today: all together, a little bit, and this aura of positive pain will come here from all of our big Russia and help our team...

(Teams enter the field)

The White Stripes, the most beloved group at this tournament, it is under it that teams appear. You can stomp and slap,

(close-up of the captain of the Russian national team Sergei Semak)

inviting Sergei Bogdanovich Semak with the captain's armband and the Russian team in white to fight the Dutch orange team.

“Two Hollands are playing,” one of the leading Dutch newspapers wrote yesterday. Well, it's clear: our coach is Dutch. However, let me disagree with this - yes, we have a Dutch coach, but there are 11 Russian guys on the field. They represent Russia today, they play under our flag, and we support them.

About the compositions, of course, in detail - a little later, but I’ll say right away: we have only one replacement (compared to the game against Sweden)– Ivan Saenko will play instead of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov in this match. The Dutch did not change anything compared to the squad that played with France, because in the last group match with Romania, Van Basten gave almost all the top players a break. But more about all this later. An integral part of official match– performance of anthems, and thanks to Russia for this European Championship, for once again giving us the opportunity to sing our anthem.

(Anthem sounds)

Well, everything is ready to start this game! This is certainly a historic day for our football, so let's say again: "Forward, Russia!" and start watching football.

(Stadium chanting loudly in Dutch)

Yes, today they will sing very loudly, they will cheer loudly, there are 150 thousand of them in the city, which simply cannot be walked through - it is all orange. But it doesn't matter. I repeat once again: maybe this is our main trump card today - in good sense we are the underdogs, dark horses this quarter-final. The Russian national team can present the same surprise as Turkey, which absolutely no one expected in the semi-finals, but it is there ...

Compositions. We start with the Russian team, although formally the hosts are the Dutch, but let me start with the Russians.

Igor Akinfeev defends the goal, in defense everything is as it was, it would be nice also in terms of the quality of the game it was the same as with Greece and Sweden, so: Yura Zhirkov 18th number on the left, 8th number Denis Kolodin, 4th Sergey Ignashevich and number 22 on the right Alexander Anyukov. Number 11, defensive midfielder Sergei Semak - team captain; attack group: 17 Konstantin Zyryanov, 20 Igor Semshov, 10 Andrey Arshavin, 19 Roman Pavlyuchenko and Ivan Saenko, number 9, made his debut in this tournament from the first minutes. He will have many personal fans today: a lot of people came from Germany

(Saenko played in the German championship)

from among our former compatriots, so they are most likely to root for ours and Saenko personally. There will be no real such football hardcore on our podium, it's a pity that everyone who supported our team in Austria could not come, so much so that with such support from the Russian team it was played more liberated and easier.

(Close-up of Hiddink, then the ball set in midfield)

Russia-Holland. 1st half

Guus Hiddink on your screens Main coach Russian national team, and Roman Pavlyuchenko with Igor Semshov in the center circle...

The Dutch national team is in black mourning bands today. There was a misfortune in the family of their friend, defender Khalid Boulakhruz, who accidentally got into this championship, he was not supposed to play here, he was not in the team, but Ryan Babel was injured, and Marco Van Basten, who was not satisfied with the game of his team in defense in control matches, urgently called Bulahruz to the national team. He played superbly against Italy and stayed in starting lineup. Khalid had a misfortune in his family, I don't want to say what kind, it seems to me that this should not be the property of everyone. There's been a tragedy

(I don’t remember: either his wife died during childbirth, or the child was born dead, something like that),

therefore, the Dutch team in mourning bandages is trying in this way to support the player who is now with the ball. What courage - to find the strength in yourself after what happened and go on the field ...

So, Van der Sar at the gates of the Dutch national team, Bulahruz, whose participation in the match was in doubt, because he even had to leave for his homeland due to the tragedy, he missed training sessions, but still playing today, which means that the Dutch have no substitutions at all: Oyer number 2, Mathijsen 4, Van Bronkhorst 5 - this is defense; midfield and attacking group: 8 no. Engelaar, 17 De Jong, 1 ° Cneider, 23 Van der Vaart, 18 Kyuut and 9 Van Nistelrooy.

The game schemes of Guus Hiddink and Marco van Basten are slightly different, if not fundamentally different, but the national teams of Russia and Holland are united by the fact that both of them tend to attack, and this is what everyone likes here.

The Dutch are afraid of our team. The Dutch are afraid of Guus Hiddink, who is treated with tremendous respect. This was evident at least at yesterday's press conference, so the Netherlands discussed the option of playing with one defensive midfielder De Jong, Van der Vaart in a pull with him in a pair and Arjen Robin on the left in order to strengthen the attack. This is what Guus Hiddink achieved: he not only made us respect our team, but they are afraid of her, as the head coach of the Spaniards Aragones was afraid of her, as Greece and Sweden were simply afraid of her, and now it’s not just anyone who is afraid, but the Dutch team.

And we see with you that Holland is so afraid that he plays with two defensive midfielders: next to De Jong - Engelaar, I'm sure that Van der Vaart will also step back to tie up our midfield, that is, Kostya Zyryanov, Igor Semshov and especially Andrey Arshavin.

As for our national team, Ivan Saenko appeared in the line-up, and Ivan, I see, nevertheless took a more familiar place for himself closer to the right midfield zone, Zyryanov was located a little to the left ...

Dutch attack

The Dutch are now on the attack, a serve into our penalty area ... (not dangerous)

Two 18 numbers will often oppose each other today. Brilliant Yura Zhirkov, I think you will agree, although according to what everyone else showed in the matches with Greece and Sweden, it’s probably not entirely correct to single out someone, but still they pay attention to our players foreign journalists, and, of course, the most enthusiastic press from Akinfeev, Zhirkov, Pavlyuchenko and Arshavin, he, however, played only one game, but HOW! Played brilliantly, of course. Well, Zhirkov, a handsome man, of course, plays simply amazing, and today it will be very interesting to see how Yura in the position - this one, found for him by Guus Hiddink - left back will cope with Dirk Kyaut.

The Dutch took the ball. Bulahruz owns it...

Ours, I emphasize once again, can play completely liberated today, no one requires them, like the Dutch from their own, to reach the semi-finals, and even more so the final, because Holland already considers itself at least a finalist: I repeat once again - 150, maybe , 200,000 Dutch people came to support their national team in Basel, which is probably home to no more than half a million... Of course, Holland is under pressure from this responsibility, and, as often happens in football, in such big matches excessive responsibility that puts pressure on the shoulders can play bad joke, and I think that this is the trump card of the Russians: they can play absolutely liberated football ...

So far, not a very high pace in the first minutes of this match, but the Dutch will not take risks, because they are still afraid of our team, but Russia will rush headlong forward, in general, too great sense doesn’t, so I think the teams are looking at each other, so they slowly roll into the game ...

And another positive thing that I would note, since the match has just started: the Dutch had a very significant downtime…

Russia intercepts the ball in midfield and attacks...

Now there was a great pass by the Dutchman to Roman Pavlyuchenko… Arshavin is alone in the penalty area… Roma enters the penalty area, shoots…

(inaccurate pass, moment lost)

Pavlyuchenko turned out to be a little unsharp pass, the ball didn’t reach Andrey Arshavin in this situation, but, at least, in ball control in the first five minutes we are not inferior, we even have more possession of the ball ... In terms of numbers, two percent less, but at least at least, this last segment is very good, we control the ball ...

Close-up of Van Bronkhorst

Van Bronkhorst is forced to break the rules...

Close-up of Arshavin

And Andrei, who, in my opinion, is being proposed to all the leading European clubs, the local multilingual press primarily refers to London's Arsenal ... Well, we all know Arshavin's capabilities and how he played in the UEFA Cup, probably his game is a discovery for those who inattentively followed this tournament ...

Zhirkov is going to be penalized

The Russian national team earns a free kick... Attention! Here at any moment, and it can be dangerous... Zhirkov has the ball and several of our not the most dimensional players in the penalty area, yes, the Dutch are taller and more powerful than us, so what? The Greeks, it seems, were also taller and more powerful and did not win anything, for example, against Sergei Ignashevich ...

Instead of a cross, Zhirkov suddenly hits the near corner, the goalkeeper hardly hits the ball ...

Udaaarrr in the near! Zhirkov checks Van der Sar!

Replay in progress

Everyone was waiting for the shed, and I’ll tell you: only the experience of Van der Sar, his long arms and height of two meters have now saved Holland from big troubles ...

Russia takes the corner

Zyryanov at the ball… Submission… The Dutch are coping…

The ball flies out of the penalty area right on Kolodin's foot

Kolodin… HE HAS A TERRIBLE GUN!!! WELL!

Kolodin inflicts a terrible blow on goal, almost a goal

And another corner.

You can hear the Russian sector chanting: "Russia!"

Very well, it turns out, our fans are heard. Zyryanov… A soft throw… From Semak the ball goes out of bounds, a goal kick…

Well, these two minutes of ours played very strong and now they really have the initiative. The Dutch are looking at us...

The Dutch are not just looking at it, it seems to me that here they are very important point- game tone. He gave a rest to a number of Van Basten players, but not to a number, but to almost everyone ...

Dangerous attack from Russia, Pavlyuchenko from a vantage point hits wide

Innings! Pavlyuchenko! The Dutch leave Roman alone in the penalty area, and this was a chance for the Russian team to open an account in the match ...

There is a repeat of the moment

This is how the game starts! Semshov, throwing the ball into the penalty area, NO ONE bothers Roma to shoot accurately ... Roman Pavlyuchenko, the most hitting on other people's goal in this championship, he could add a little more accuracy ...

An amazing metamorphosis took place with the Russian team in just a few days from the match with Spain to the match with Sweden through the game with Greece. As if we saw another team, especially in the match against the Swedish team. These are the fruits of labor coaching staff of our team, in which it is necessary to note not only the head coach, but also his assistants, especially the one who was engaged in physical training ... And especially, of course, it is worth noting how psychologically this team looks more liberated than all previous teams with other coaches. Where else have we seen our players play so confidently and without any kind of trembling in the knees? I talked to our coaches today, my colleagues talked to the players, and indeed the players themselves say that they feel confident and are not afraid of anyone. And it's not just beautiful words they really feel that way. Hiddink somehow managed to press the very buttons that turned off the fear of the opponent among the players of the Russian national team.

The Dutch do not yet know what to do. Holland is not visible on the field. The Russian national team puts pressure and very easily takes the ball away from the Dutch, trying to move on to attacking actions. We lost the ball. Engelaar throws this ball into penalty area, Akinfeev calmly comes out and picks him up ...

Not a single moment at the gates of Akinfeev, while we have already created two - the blows of Zhirkov and Pavlyuchenko!

10 minutes of the match behind...

Well, the advantage of the Russian team?!

Kick forward towards Arshavin… Saenko… Pass to Semshov…

Good combo on the flank

Not bad! Anyukov! Alexander also plays strongly in this tournament! Yes, like all the other players of our team!

Hiddink decided to make one substitution in the main team of our team compared to the previous match, apparently because he wanted to strengthen middle line a fresher player, that's why Ivan Saenko plays, and not Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, who tried very hard in the previous three matches, but he lacked a little ending in his game actions, and I think that the choice in favor of Saenko is a choice, well, just in favor of a little more new player...

Ours did not really prepare for the game with Holland, if we consider such classical training: with the study of the opponent, scrupulous viewing of matches with his participation - there was simply no time for this ...

Attack of the Russian team

Saenko! Serve... The ball flies over the penalty area... Zyryanov puts the body... While Holland is forced to think about defense itself, and not make our team afraid of Dutch attacks, as the Italian team was afraid, how the defense of both the French team and the Italian team, staffed with really stars, burst at the seams world football.

Close-up of a dutch coach

Marco van Basten is forced to jump up from his coaching position and demonstrate to his players with gestures how they need to place themselves on the field and play against the Russian team...

Kolodin with a ball…

Again, you can hear our fans well

Our fellows! Charge! Although there are not many of them, today they are completely without vests - the heat has finally come to Switzerland, it was very hot during the day today, it is still stuffy, so our TORSIDE is rooting for the national team with naked torsos.

The Dutch with the ball. Oyer... Van Basten shows him: make a long forward pass! Oyer doesn't do it… Van Nistelrooy – without the ball for how many minutes… Semshov's clean tackle… Pavlyuchenko…

With the help of colleagues who speak German, yesterday we watched a very interesting TV show dedicated to today's match, in which Beckenbauer and Matthäus participated. And these famous German football specialists both noted that the Russian team had the best rebuilding in this tournament from defensive to attacking actions and vice versa. From the point of view of such technical and tactical actions, Beckenbauer and Matthäus called the Russian team the best in this championship: that is, when the ball is lost or taken from the opponent, ours very quickly close free zones, both in defense and in attack ...

Semshov… Failed forward pass… De Jong…

So far, neither the Sneijders, nor the Van der Vaarts, nor anyone else is visible ...

That's what psychology means. It turns out, and Guus Hiddink proved it to everyone - psychology is more important than tactics, technique, and so on ...

Attack of the Russian team

Pavlyuchenko... Cross... Engelaar knocks the ball out, and then our pressure!

Dutch defender forced to kick the ball out of bounds

So here it is: the Dutch have to shoot at the outs!

This is what it means to believe in yourself! How Hiddink did it, I don't know...

Arshavin...

Violation of the rules, penalty

So far, by the way, both teams are playing very correctly, there are practically no fouls. But in this situation, we have the opportunity to deliver the ball into someone else's penalty area. It’s hard for us to claim that we will win the ball at the top in such a situation when he goes from a free kick into someone else’s penalty area, Pavlyuchenko can, of course, head, and Ignashevich can, but we don’t have enough such players ...

The ball for the free kick is placed almost on the sideline of the field

To hit from here, as Yura Zhirkov struck at the beginning of the game, of course, is difficult ...

Large Van der Sar

Van der Sar... Nervous experienced goalkeeper!

The whole of Holland in their own penalty area!

Zhirkov unsuccessfully takes a free kick

Some kind of tricky trick was performed by Zhirkov and launched the ball much higher than the gate ...

While Holland does not really understand what to do, and the young Dutchman Van Basten does not yet know what to oppose to his much more experienced compatriot ...

Finally something dangerous can be created by the Dutch

Well, Van der Vaart has the ball...

Van der Vaart shoots from a very long distance, hits a defender

Van der Vaart decided to try to score Akinfeev from 35 meters. In my opinion, this is too disrespectful to a goalkeeper who is called, at least here, one of the best in the world ...

The Dutch, to the whistle of their fans, roll the ball in their own half of the field

The Dutch do not know what to do with the Russian team!!! They don't know for 15 minutes!

Van der Sar with the ball... Well, maybe Van der Sar should go center forward play?… Bulahruz…

Bulakhruz and Kyaut go to Zhirkov, they can't beat him

Zhirkov is still fighting Bulakhruz and Kyaut one-on-one on an equal footing and even outplaying them!

The Dutch got a free kick... Rafael van der Vaart at the ball... Holland in our penalty area is quite in large numbers... Van der Vaart's dacha ...

The ball flies straight into the hands of Akinfeev

Well, this is a warm-up for Igor Akinfeev! Everything is fine!

16 minutes played - normal flight!

This is the quarter-finals of the European Championship, and Turkey is already in the semi-finals. Turkey, from which no one expected anything.

The Dutch intercept the ball, go forward, the referee blows the whistle, the Dutch player is assisted

It was played hard, Arshavin stayed on his feet, and it seems that the defender of the Dutch national team Bulahruz, who stepped on the ball, gets injured. Bulahruz himself is to blame, our Andrey Arshavin has absolutely nothing to do with it. Ljubos Michel, our good friend, serves this match with helpers from Slovakia, and you listen to how a small but very active group support of the Russian team ...

Hear the chant

Another curious thought of Lothar Matthäus from yesterday big ether on the central German channel, not sports channel, but federal: Matthäus was very surprised that Semak did not play in Europe, he was very surprised that no one before Hiddink (except Leonid Slutsky, in my opinion) saw in Semak a football player capable of playing in the position of a defensive midfielder, although in this position he played last season in FC Moscow. And so, indeed, in CSKA he was used as an attacking player, in the French "PSG" he also came as an attacking player, and Matthäus says, strange, that's his position - the central midfielder! After all, Matthäus himself was a universal football player, he could play under the attackers and attack from the depth of the field, so Matthäus's opinion on this matter deserves attention - he and Semak are almost colleagues in the role, and here Matthäus made such an observation: he was very surprised that before Gus no one tried to find Semaka best use his football skills and qualities...

The ball flies towards our penalty area…

Dutch attack

This could be dangerous! Sneijder hits what is called "with a bayonet" ...

Fortunately, Sneijder hit our defender, the ball bounces to Van Bronkhorst, who sends the ball high into the stands with a clumsy shot.

And this shot by Van Bronkhorst signals the confusion in which the Dutch team is in the first 19 minutes of this match ...

Sneijder hit replay

Of course, the blow was dangerous: Sneijder aimed at the far corner, hit “for execution”, but our defender Ignashevich managed to put his foot in, who deserves separate compliments: he, it seems to me, demonstrates his best strong football for a career ... How Hiddink manages all this, again, I don’t know ... You can only shrug ...

After all, this is actually the main task national team coach, so that his players play at least as well in their clubs, and it is desirable that they play better. In the second and especially in the third match of the final part of Euro 2008, all this appeared in the Russian team, since Gus was with the team every day for almost a month ...

Arashavin almost entered dangerously into the penalty area

Arshavin with the ball! Van der Sar very loudly all the time tells his defenders to play more carefully, especially with Pavlyuchenko and Arshavin ...

The Russian national team is in control of the ball… Semak… Now the ball possession is absolutely equal… Ignashevich is not in a hurry, passing towards Saenko… Rules were violated against Ivan… Saenko, of course, it is more convenient to play in the position of the right insider, he tried out for the national team in this position, as just started to invite him regularly ...

Russia's dangerous attack

And this is Anyukov! Innings! Arshavin!

The ball flies past everyone through the Holland penalty area

The attack of the Russian team continues... Zyryanov! Oh, how fresh our team looks! She basically didn't train for two days, only restoration measures after a tough game with Sweden. There was a flight - our team even had to fly in order to get to a new one for ourselves at this national championship. Phenomenal physical readiness The Russian team is noted here by absolutely all observers. The Dutch assistant at the headquarters of Guus Hiddink, who is responsible for this very physical training, did an excellent job!

The ball is in the penalty area of the Russian team, but our players are with it ...

An excellent opportunity today is for my colleagues, who are practically in in full force here - they are sitting in the front row, right behind Guus Hiddink's bench, maybe two meters away. There are Kostya Genich, and Vasya Utkin, and Timur Zhuravel, and Kirill Pupshev - they are all there. And now they see and, more interestingly, hear how Guus Hiddink works during the match. Of course, this is a unique opportunity!

Knocked down Zhirkov

Zhirkov... Makes you break the rules... 23 minutes is over! 23 minutes and there is no Dutch team on the field! She just doesn't exist! As there was no Greece and Sweden ...

Another free kick will be performed by the Russian team. Zyryanov at the ball… Soft serve! Whose selection? The rebound was won by the Dutch, the ball flew into the hands of Van der Sar, who really doesn’t know at all what to do and how to start the attack: he wanted to kick the ball off his foot, changed his mind ...

Guus Hiddink is now located in the corner of his technical zone, that is, as far as it is allowed by the regulations for moving in the technical zone, close to our defense line, but did not tell our guys anything. I just stood there, looked and returned to the place ...

Guus Hiddink is standing watching the game, Marco van Basten is sitting down now…

With the ball Holland… Boulahruz…

Animation in the stands

Dutch fans are asking their national team to remember how they played football in the previous three matches!

Zhirkov throws the ball from out… Oyer failed to play properly…

The Dutch return the ball to Van der Sar...

Very clearly, our players play positionally, meeting the opponent's attacks in their zones. In the center Zyryanov, Semshov, Arshavin, Saenko block everything. Semak behind them controls the central zone, looking back periodically at Rafael van der Vaart; Kolodin and Ignashevich, again playing zone, try not to act ahead, not allowing Van Nistelrooy to get the ball, and until he gets it.

Oyer... Long pass forward... Boulahrouz in our penalty area... Holland earns only the second corner of the match! 25 minutes played. Van der Vaart goes to the ball ... The Dutch in our penalty area ... Submission! Great playing Pavlyuchenko! Let's get the ball out!

The ball rolls out of the box straight at the Dutchman

DO NOT LET IT BREAK!!!

Shot on our goal, almost scored

Be careful in your selection! Engelaar shot with his left foot, but didn't score!

moment repeat

Then Oyer tried to substitute his foot ... Well, it was something like a dangerous moment at our gates. Yes, there was also a blow from Sneijder when it sank a little, right? However, the defenders played well ...

The Russian team is in the opponent's half of the field… Van Bronkhorst is playing the lights out…

It has never happened before, I happened to be at all the matches of the Dutch national team here in Switzerland - it has never been so quiet in the stadium at the matches of the Dutch team! You can only hear our fans, unlike the Dutch, and you can hardly see the Dutch team!

Arshavin, passing to the right… Running in… Saenko took a break… Anyukov ran after Saenko, who fiddled with the ball, sent it to the central zone, Pavlyuchenko had already run away from there, and Oyer, again on the rebound, without risking, sends the ball behind outside the field… Arshavin… Gently in touch… The Dutch intercepted the ball, but they don’t have a quick exit from the defense…

Our intercept the ball

How well ours play! When you watch live, it's a completely different impression than when you watch it on TV - with lightning speed, when you lose the ball, we return to our places and close all the zones!

Arshavin... De Jong made Andrey make a mistake, no one offered Arshavin any option to play a pass, and the Dutch - in an attempt to start their attack...

Due to the fact that ours cover the zones so well, the game turns out to be slow, viscous. The Dutch cannot speed it up, and this is very good: the Dutch cannot be allowed to play that game. fast football, in which the Netherlands played against Italy and France.

Violation of the rules against van Nistelrooy

They dumped van Nistelrooy, and van der Vaart will take a free-kick... Our midfielders probably remember about rebounding...

Highly dangerous pitch, van Nistelrooy should have scored

Innings! The Dutch come up with the same thing all the time, but fortunately the ball flew past everyone and, most importantly, past the gate!

Current page: 1 (total book has 8 pages) [available reading excerpt: 2 pages]

Georgy Cherdantsev
Notes of a football commentator

I would like to thank Anna Vladimirovna Dmitrieva for her help in writing the book and all colleagues, including those who have left us, who helped to remember or turned out to be the characters in the commentary stories cited in this book.

To my father, thanks to whom a childhood hobby became a profession

Foreword

Russia-Holland. Half an hour before the game

Good evening! Live Switzerland, the city of Basel, and here the Russian team in a few minutes will begin the quarterfinal match against the Dutch team.

(on the screen they show a close-up of a very beautiful blonde in a crowd of Russian fans),

Our girls are the best, the whole world knows about it, and once again he was convinced of this, since quite a lot of Russian fans still got to this Swiss city, although, unfortunately, of course, not the number that would be necessary for our team in the quarter-finals, because this is the first time in the history of Russian football, even though it is not very long, but it still exists, and for the first time we play in the playoffs of such a serious tournament as the European Championship. The Dutch team is positioned here as the main favorite of the tournament. The Dutch team played best of all in a group with very strong opponents: suffice it to recall that the World Cup finalists played in the same group with Holland, as well as stubborn Romanians, and Holland not only took one hundred percent of the points in this group, but also recorded the goal difference in his favor 9–1. But all this does not mean anything: the Russian team, having started the tournament with an unsuccessful game against Spain, then changed and scored maximum points with the Greeks and Swedes, and did not miss a single goal, and the game with Sweden made such a stunning impression on everyone here, that, you know, Guus Hiddink's pre-match press conference was literally impossible to get into. The huge press conference room was packed to capacity. I have never seen anything like this at press conferences of Russian teams at other big tournaments. Moreover, at Hus's press conference, the overwhelming majority were Western European journalists - the Dutch, Germans, British, and so on. They all asked Gus questions, the press conference lasted 30 minutes, and Hiddink answered all questions in detail and with pleasure. In general, in any case, Russia has already left the impression that should have been left: they are treated with respect, and not just with respect - the Russian team is sincerely loved here, especially in the last two matches.

Yes, Holland is the favourite, yes, today almost the entire stadium will cheer for the Dutch, so what? As a rule, in such meetings, when one team seems to be easier in the sense that it does not risk anything, this is its main trump card. Our team has already received excellent press coverage, our team is in a good mood and they can continue to play the football they showed against Sweden.

Good luck to the Russian team, good luck and a beautiful game in the quarterfinals against the brightest team of this tournament,

(they show the stands, all orange, because almost the entire stadium is filled with Dutch fans dressed in orange)

and the Dutch are the brightest not only in the color of their uniforms, not only in their national orange color. Indeed they are. The stunning football against Italy and France is proof of that. As for our fans, this is not a very pleasant story, well, simply due to the fact that we have very little experience, in fact, the first experience for Russia of participating in such matches. It turns out that tickets could be bought at a special box office simply upon presentation of a Russian passport without any, for example, travel documents. As far as I understand, people who do not support Russia, are not interested in football and the national team, took advantage of this. In front of my eyes and in front of my colleagues, these tickets went away right there, at the box office, to the Dutch for a decent price. Very few fans who supported our team fantastically in Austria came to Switzerland, I met them walking around the city. Nevertheless, behind the gates to the right of us, there will be a small but full sector with our fans, who will provide sound support to our team. All the rest are scattered around the stadium, the vast majority of the Dutch, so (addressing the viewers) your help to the Russian team today will also be needed: all together, a little bit, and this aura of positive pain will come here from all over our big Russia and help our team...

(Teams enter the field)

The White Stripes, the most beloved group at this tournament, it is under it that teams appear. You can stomp and slap,

(close-up of the captain of the Russian national team Sergei Semak)

inviting Sergei Bogdanovich Semak with the captain's armband and the Russian team in white to fight the Dutch orange team.

About the compositions, of course, in detail - a little later, but I’ll say right away: we have only one replacement (compared to the game against Sweden)– Ivan Saenko will play instead of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov in this match. The Dutch, on the other hand, did not change anything compared to the squad that played with France, because in the last group match with Romania, Van Basten gave almost all the leading players a rest. But more about all this later. An integral part of the official match is the performance of anthems, and thanks to Russia for this European Championship, for once again giving us the opportunity to sing our anthem.

(Anthem sounds)

Well, everything is ready to start this game! This is certainly a historic day for our football, so let's say again: "Forward, Russia!" and start watching football.

(Stadium chanting loudly in Dutch)

Yes, today they will sing very loudly, they will cheer loudly, there are 150 thousand of them in the city, which simply cannot be walked through - it is all orange. But it doesn't matter. I repeat once again: maybe this is our main trump card today - in a good sense, we are underdogs, the dark horses of this quarter-final. The Russian national team can present the same surprise as Turkey, which absolutely no one expected in the semi-finals, but it is there ...

Compositions. We start with the Russian team, although formally the hosts are the Dutch, but let me start with the Russians.

(Saenko played in the German championship)

(Close-up of Hiddink, then the ball set in midfield)

Russia-Holland. 1st half

Guus Hiddink on your screens, head coach of the Russian national team, and Roman Pavlyuchenko with Igor Semshov in the center circle...

The Dutch national team is in black mourning bands today. There was a misfortune in the family of their friend, defender Khalid Boulakhruz, who accidentally got into this championship, he was not supposed to play here, he was not in the team, but Ryan Babel was injured, and Marco Van Basten, who was not satisfied with the game of his team in defense in control matches, urgently called Bulahruz to the national team. He played superbly against Italy and stayed in the starting line-up today. Khalid had a misfortune in his family, I don't want to say what kind, it seems to me that this should not be the property of everyone. There's been a tragedy

(I don’t remember: either his wife died during childbirth, or the child was born dead, something like that),

So, Van der Sar at the gates of the Dutch national team, Boulahrouz, whose participation in the match was in doubt, because he even had to leave for his homeland in connection with the tragedy, he missed training sessions, but still plays today, which means that substitutions for there are no Dutch at all: Oyer number 2, Mathijsen 4, Van Bronkhorst 5 - this is a defense; midfield and attacking group: 8 no. Engelaar, 17 De Jong, 1 ° Cneider, 23 Van der Vaart, 18 Kyuut and 9 Van Nistelrooy.

And we see with you that Holland is so afraid that they play with two defensive midfielders: next to De Jong - Engelaar, I am sure that Van der Vaart will also step back to tie up our midfield, that is, Kostya Zyryanov, Igor Semshov and especially Andrey Arshavin.

Dutch attack

The Dutch are now on the attack, a serve into our penalty area ... (not dangerous)

Two 18 numbers will often oppose each other today. Brilliant Yura Zhirkov, I think you will agree, although according to what everyone else showed in the matches with Greece and Sweden, it is probably not entirely correct to single out someone, but still foreign journalists pay attention to our players, and most , of course, Akinfeev, Zhirkov, Pavlyuchenko and Arshavin had an enthusiastic press, he, however, played only one game, but HOW! Played brilliantly, of course. Well, Zhirkov, a handsome man, of course, plays simply amazing, and today it will be very interesting to see how Yura in the position - this one, found for him by Guus Hiddink - left back will cope with Dirk Kyaut.

The Dutch took the ball. Bulahruz owns it...

Ours, I emphasize once again, can play completely liberated today, no one requires them, like the Dutch from their own, to reach the semi-finals, and even more so the final, because Holland already considers itself at least a finalist: I repeat once again - 150, maybe , 200,000 Dutch people came to support their national team in Basel, which is probably home to no more than half a million... Of course, this responsibility puts pressure on Holland, and, as is often the case in football, in such big matches there is an excessive responsibility that presses on the shoulders, can play a cruel joke, and I think that this is the trump card of the Russians: they can play absolutely liberated football ...

So far, the pace is not very high in the first minutes of this match, but the Dutch will not take risks, because they are still afraid of our team, but for Russia, rushing headlong forward, in general, also does not make much sense, so I think teams look at each other, so they slowly roll into the game ...

And another positive thing that I would note, since the match has just started: the Dutch had a very significant downtime…

Russia intercepts the ball in midfield and attacks...

Now there was a great pass by the Dutchman to Roman Pavlyuchenko… Arshavin is alone in the penalty area… Roma enters the penalty area, shoots…

(inaccurate pass, moment lost)

Close-up of Van Bronkhorst

Van Bronkhorst is forced to break the rules...

Close-up of Arshavin

And Andrey, who, in my opinion, is being matched with all the leading European clubs, the local multilingual press first of all calls the London Arsenal ... Well, we all know Arshavin's capabilities and how he played in the UEFA Cup, probably his game - a discovery for those who inattentively followed this tournament ...

Zhirkov is going to be penalized

Instead of a cross, Zhirkov suddenly hits the near corner, the goalkeeper hardly hits the ball ...

Udaaarrr in the near! Zhirkov checks Van der Sar!

Replay in progress

Everyone was waiting for the shed, and I’ll tell you: only the experience of Van der Sar, his long arms and height of two meters have now saved Holland from big troubles ...

Russia takes the corner

Zyryanov at the ball… Submission… The Dutch are coping…

The ball flies out of the penalty area right on Kolodin's foot

Kolodin… HE HAS A TERRIBLE GUN!!! WELL!

Kolodin inflicts a terrible blow on goal, almost a goal

And another corner.

You can hear the Russian sector chanting: "Russia!"

Very well, it turns out, our fans are heard. Zyryanov… A soft throw… From Semak the ball goes out of bounds, a goal kick…

Well, these two minutes of ours played very strong and now they really have the initiative. The Dutch are looking at us...

The Dutch are not just looking at it, it seems to me that here is a very important point - the playing tone. He gave a rest to a number of Van Basten players, but not to a number, but to almost everyone ...

Dangerous attack from Russia, Pavlyuchenko from a vantage point hits wide

Innings! Pavlyuchenko! The Dutch leave Roman alone in the penalty area, and this was a chance for the Russian team to open an account in the match ...

There is a repeat of the moment

An amazing metamorphosis took place with the Russian team in just a few days from the match with Spain to the match with Sweden through the game with Greece. As if we saw another team, especially in the match against the Swedish team. These are the fruits of the work of the coaching staff of our team, in which it is necessary to note not only the head coach, but also his assistants, especially the one who was engaged in physical training ... And especially, of course, it is worth noting how psychologically this team looks liberated than all previous teams with other coaches . Where else have we seen our players play so confidently and without any kind of trembling in the knees? I talked to our coaches today, my colleagues talked to the players, and indeed the players themselves say that they feel confident and are not afraid of anyone. And these are not just beautiful words, they really feel that way. Hiddink somehow managed to press the very buttons that turned off the fear of the opponent among the players of the Russian national team.

The Dutch do not yet know what to do. Holland is not visible on the field. The Russian national team puts pressure and very easily takes the ball away from the Dutch, trying to move on to attacking actions. We lost the ball. Engelaar throws this ball into the penalty area, Akinfeev calmly comes out and picks it up ...

Not a single moment at the gates of Akinfeev, while we have already created two - the blows of Zhirkov and Pavlyuchenko!

10 minutes of the match behind...

Well, the advantage of the Russian team?!

Kick forward towards Arshavin… Saenko… Pass to Semshov…

Good combo on the flank

Not bad! Anyukov! Alexander also plays strongly in this tournament! Yes, like all the other players of our team!

Hiddink decided to make one substitution in the main team of our team compared to the previous match, apparently because he wanted to strengthen the middle line with a fresher player, so Ivan Saenko plays, and not Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, who tried very hard in the previous three matches, but he lacked a little endings in his game actions, and I think that the choice in favor of Saenko is a choice, well, just in favor of a slightly more recent player ...

Our team didn’t really prepare for the game with the Netherlands, if we consider such a classic preparation: with the study of the opponent, scrupulously watching the matches with his participation - there was simply no time for this ...

Attack of the Russian team

Close-up of a dutch coach

Marco van Basten is forced to jump up from his coaching position and demonstrate to his players with gestures how they need to place themselves on the field and play against the Russian team...

Kolodin with a ball…

Again, you can hear our fans well

With the help of colleagues who speak German, yesterday we watched a very interesting TV show dedicated to today's match, in which Beckenbauer and Matthäus took part. And these famous German football experts both noted that the Russian team has the best rebuilding in this tournament from defensive actions to attacking ones and vice versa. From the point of view of such technical and tactical actions, Beckenbauer and Matthäus called the Russian team the best in this championship: that is, when the ball is lost or taken from the opponent, ours very quickly close free zones, both in defense and in attack ...

Semshov… Failed forward pass… De Jong…

So far, neither the Sneijders, nor the Van der Vaarts, nor anyone else is visible ...

That's what psychology means. It turns out, and Guus Hiddink proved it to everyone - psychology is more important than tactics, technique, and so on ...

Attack of the Russian team

Pavlyuchenko... Cross... Engelaar knocks the ball out, and then our pressure!

Dutch defender forced to kick the ball out of bounds

So here it is: the Dutch have to shoot at the outs!

This is what it means to believe in yourself! How Hiddink did it, I don't know...

Arshavin...

Violation of the rules, penalty

The ball for the free kick is placed almost on the sideline of the field

To hit from here, as Yura Zhirkov struck at the beginning of the game, of course, is difficult ...

Large Van der Sar

Van der Sar... Nervous experienced goalkeeper!

The whole of Holland in their own penalty area!

Zhirkov unsuccessfully takes a free kick

Some kind of tricky trick was performed by Zhirkov and launched the ball much higher than the gate ...

While Holland does not really understand what to do, and the young Dutchman Van Basten does not yet know what to oppose to his much more experienced compatriot ...

Finally something dangerous can be created by the Dutch

Well, Van der Vaart has the ball...

Van der Vaart shoots from a very long distance, hits a defender

Van der Vaart decided to try to score Akinfeev from 35 meters. In my opinion, this is too disrespectful to a goalkeeper who is called, at least here, one of the best in the world ...

The Dutch, to the whistle of their fans, roll the ball in their own half of the field

The Dutch do not know what to do with the Russian team!!! They don't know for 15 minutes!

Van der Sar with the ball… Well, maybe Van der Sar should go play as a centre-forward?… Boulahrouz…

Bulakhruz and Kyaut go to Zhirkov, they can't beat him

Zhirkov is still fighting Bulakhruz and Kyaut one-on-one on an equal footing and even outplaying them!

The Dutch got a free kick… Rafael van der Vaart at the ball… Holland in our penalty area in quite a large number… Van der Vaart’s cross…

The ball flies straight into the hands of Akinfeev

Well, this is a warm-up for Igor Akinfeev! Everything is fine!

16 minutes played - normal flight!

This is the quarter-finals of the European Championship, and Turkey is already in the semi-finals. Turkey, from which no one expected anything.

The Dutch intercept the ball, go forward, the referee blows the whistle, the Dutch player is assisted

It was played hard, Arshavin stayed on his feet, and it seems that the defender of the Dutch national team Bulahruz, who stepped on the ball, gets injured. Bulahruz himself is to blame, our Andrey Arshavin has absolutely nothing to do with it. Ljubos Michel, a good friend of ours, is officiating this match with helpers from Slovakia, and you can listen to how a small but very active support group of the Russian team is charging…

Hear the chant

Another curious consideration of Lothar Matthäus from yesterday's big broadcast on the central German channel, not a sports channel, but a federal one: Matthäus was very surprised that Semak did not play in Europe, he was very surprised that no one before Hiddink (except Leonid Slutsky, in my opinion) I did not see in Semak a football player capable of playing in the position of a defensive midfielder, although he played in this position last season at FC Moscow. And so, indeed, in CSKA he was used as an attacking player, in the French "PSG" he also came as an attacking player, and Matthäus says, strange, that's his position - the central midfielder! After all, Matthäus himself was a universal football player, he could play under the attackers and attack from the depth of the field, so Matthäus's opinion on this matter deserves attention - he and Semak are almost colleagues in the role, and here Matthäus made such an observation: he was very surprised that before Gus no one tried to find Semak the best use of his football skills and qualities ...

The ball flies towards our penalty area…

Dutch attack

This could be dangerous! Sneijder hits what is called "with a bayonet" ...

Fortunately, Sneijder hit our defender, the ball bounces to Van Bronkhorst, who sends the ball high into the stands with a clumsy shot.

And this shot by Van Bronkhorst signals the confusion in which the Dutch team is in the first 19 minutes of this match ...

Sneijder hit replay

Of course, the blow was dangerous: Sneijder aimed at the far corner, hit “for execution”, but our defender Ignashevich managed to substitute his foot, who deserves separate compliments: he, it seems to me, demonstrates his strongest football in his career ... How does all this work Hiddink, again, I don’t know ... You can only shrug ...

After all, this is, in fact, the main task of the national team coach, so that his players play at least as well in their clubs, and it is desirable that they play better. In the second and especially in the third match of the final part of Euro 2008, all this appeared in the Russian team, since Gus was with the team every day for almost a month ...

Arashavin almost entered dangerously into the penalty area

Arshavin with the ball! Van der Sar very loudly all the time tells his defenders to play more carefully, especially with Pavlyuchenko and Arshavin ...

Russia's dangerous attack

And this is Anyukov! Innings! Arshavin!

The ball flies past everyone through the Holland penalty area

The attack of the Russian team continues... Zyryanov! Oh, how fresh our team looks! She basically didn't train for two days, only recovering after a tough game against Sweden. There was a flight - our team even had to fly in order to get to a new one for ourselves at this national championship. The phenomenal physical readiness of the Russian team is noted here by absolutely all observers. The Dutch assistant at the headquarters of Guus Hiddink, who is responsible for this very physical training, did an excellent job!

The ball is in the penalty area of the Russian team, but our players are with it ...

My colleagues, who are almost in full force here, have a great opportunity today - they are sitting in the front row, right behind Guus Hiddink's bench, probably two meters away. There are Kostya Genich, and Vasya Utkin, and Timur Zhuravel, and Kirill Pupshev - they are all there. And now they see and, more interestingly, hear how Guus Hiddink works during the match. Of course, this is a unique opportunity!

Knocked down Zhirkov

Zhirkov... Makes you break the rules... 23 minutes is over! 23 minutes and there is no Dutch team on the field! She just doesn't exist! As there was no Greece and Sweden ...

Guus Hiddink is standing watching the game, Marco van Basten is sitting down now…

With the ball Holland… Boulahruz…

Animation in the stands

Dutch fans are asking their national team to remember how they played football in the previous three matches!

Zhirkov throws the ball from out… Oyer failed to play properly…

The Dutch return the ball to Van der Sar...

The ball rolls out of the box straight at the Dutchman

DO NOT LET IT BREAK!!!

Shot on our goal, almost scored

Be careful in your selection! Engelaar shot with his left foot, but didn't score!

moment repeat

The Russian team is in the opponent's half of the field… Van Bronkhorst is playing the lights out…

Our intercept the ball

Arshavin... De Jong made Andrey make a mistake, no one offered Arshavin any option to play a pass, and the Dutch - in an attempt to start their attack...

Due to the fact that ours cover the zones so well, the game turns out to be slow, viscous. The Dutch cannot speed it up, and this is very good: the Dutch cannot be allowed to play the fast football that Holland played against Italy and France.

Violation of the rules against van Nistelrooy

They dumped van Nistelrooy, and van der Vaart will take a free-kick... Our midfielders probably remember about rebounding...

Very dangerous serve, van Nistelrooy should have scored

Innings! The Dutch come up with the same thing all the time, but fortunately the ball flew past everyone and, most importantly, past the gate!

Russian football player Denis Kolodin gives an interview to Match TV. How Van Basten called him to Ajax, how Slutsky made him watch the goals of the World Championships, and how he scored a chic ball into his own net in Kazakhstan.

- What is happening with your career?

- I spent a year in the first league of Kazakhstan, in a completely new club - before the season, two teams were merged into one. We were given the task of reaching the big leagues, and we fulfilled it. What will happen next, I do not know yet.

- Do they pay well in Kazakhstan?

- The level of salaries in the first league of Kazakhstan is not so high: for example, bonuses for the victory were about 20 thousand rubles. In the tower, of course, there will be more. Now I am waiting for proposals from Russia, but if they don’t, I will extend the contract in Kazakhstan. It’s good there now - minus 33 degrees, but last tours we played in the arena.

- You lived near a nuclear test site. Were you afraid of radiation when you were driving?

– 200 km to this place, but it was closed 30 years ago. It feels good. Although they said that it was bombed 600 times.

In Kazakhstan, I lived in the small town of Semipalatinsk, with a population of 300,000. Boring, of course, but there were friends, talked. I did not even think of bringing my family - they would not have gone. One Kazakh said: “Nobody has ever left here in good health.”

- What is the first league of Kazakhstan? You said in an interview that they just put sticks in the steppe.

“The fields are not particularly monitored, as if they had actually set up gates in the steppe. In one city there was an artificial field without grass - just a carpet. Even worse than at Dynamo in the arena before. The rest of the fields are bumps. Because of this, the forces of the teams are aligned, everyone becomes the same. The main tactic is to score a free kick in the middle of the field, send the defenders forward and serve.

- So you're a striker now?

- No, our team plays different football. When we went to the Astana Arena and played play-off With major league, drove them and won.

- In the first match you immediately scored two goals.

- And that's it - I didn't score any more. Only in their own.

– Remember the day you met Hiddink?

“He immediately set us up and showed us who we are. Said he worked in Australia and South Korea, but there are lumberjacks who cannot fill the ball twice. He told us: you, as football players, are stronger, let's get together. He also took fourth place with the Koreans, with the Australians he also went somewhere. The training was not easy, we did all sorts of planks. Now everyone is standing for five minutes, and we are for the first time. They stood for thirty seconds, but it seemed that all the veins popped out. That euro flew by quickly, like two minutes. It seems that the games have just begun, and you are already sitting at home.

- When we celebrated Torbinsky's goal against Holland, were you on top or bottom of that pile?

- I'm slow! While I ran, they fled, and I was already jumping into the void. Then Vitaly Leontyevich Mutko came into the locker room with a telephone, and President Dmitry Medvedev congratulated us over the speakerphone.

- You could go to Zenit several times. Why didn't it work out?

“I don’t even remember what it was like there. They called and called, but I stayed at Dynamo. I don’t even remember who was the coach there, I didn’t really follow. That's when Danny left, when Semshov left, then I could also leave. But they asked me to stay, they said that everyone had fled, it was wrong to leave now. I stayed at Dynamo and have no regrets. If yes, if only ... Maybe at Zenit I would have received my serious injury even earlier.

- When you recovered, Silkin was at Dynamo and cool football with Voronin, Samedov, Kuranyi and Semshov.

- Yes, only Silkin immediately sent me to double. They took Rykov, Nekhaichik and Shitov, but they pushed me, Karyaka and Kisenkov. I don't know why Silkin decided that, you'd better ask him. Dynamo played so well because Bozovic prepared the team at the training camp, everything went on with his luggage. And when Silkin himself had to hold the training camp, everything collapsed.

- Why did it collapse? It was said that Roman Pilipchuk, who is now at Spartak, persuaded Silkin to play defensive football.

- I was already in Rostov then, I don’t know. And for some reason, Pilipchuk was constantly afraid that he would be fired. Packed suitcases, was ready to leave for Kyiv. They told him: “Two more days before the game, and you are already packing your bags.” Pilipchuk once came into the room and asked: “Do you know how to drive a car from Moscow to Kyiv?” They ask him: "What is it?" He answered: “We won’t win now, they will fire us.” Bozovic, by the way, treated conversations with management with humor. He came and said: “Yesterday they fucked me like that, and today - like that.”

- You are friends with Samedov. Were you surprised that Spartak became interested in him?

– So Sasha in perfect order so that's why they want it. But I did not expect that his transfer to Spartak was still possible. Still, he has been with Lokomotiv for so many years.

- As far as we know, Samedov wants Carrera personally.

“Does anyone want Carrera?”

- Are you seriously?

- I'm kidding, of course. But the man was sitting and sitting, suddenly appeared, and the team immediately began to play. He didn't do anything. Ha! Rather, Alenichev did something, although it is also unlikely. Okay, don't think that I'm serious about this.

- Do you think everything is on Alenichev's luggage?

- It doesn’t happen differently, the team can’t just take it and push it. But seriously: although Spartak is gaining points, I still don’t understand how they win. Every time for 300 moments near their gates, one-on-one exits all the time. On the other hand, they come first. Nothing happens without luck. Let's see what will happen to the team after the winter training camp.

- You were coached by Leonid Slutsky, when he was still almost a physical education teacher.

- I was 12 years old, he came to Kamyshin. Slutsky asked our coach to give him a few people. Five or six of us went to play for Olimpia. Leonid Viktorovich gave some instructions, but then I didn’t care ... [what the hell] - to listen to some other instructions. I played in the attack, what should I listen to there. He called us a couple more times, and then offered to move to the Volgograd boarding school. A few years later, Slutsky moved me to the support position. He says that everyone is growing up, they are already shaving, and it will be hard for you little one to fight there. In the same place, everyone was still stuck for two years, especially among the defenders.

- How could Slutsky punish?

- Force balls to carry whole month. He was generally hysterical then, it’s hard to work with children. If you take him out, he could seriously yell. When textbooks were not taken to school, when something else. After all, Slutsky could have entered the classroom at any moment. But he was especially taken out by matches if we played badly and did not follow the instructions. Could even give bream on special occasions. Someone argued, but I tried not to argue. But this was a long time ago and not true: over the years, Leonid Viktorovich became much calmer and more balanced. Thank you very much for everything, he did a lot for me.

- What was unusual about his training?

- Slutsky loved to watch all these World and European Championships - some 1986. We watched with him. At 7 am training, at 9:40 - school, and at 14:00 after school - viewing best goals World Cup 86th year. This cassette ran for two hours, 500 goals, three repetitions each. People at the fifth minute were already falling asleep. But Leonid Viktorovich doesn’t like that everyone is falling asleep, he shows, sorts out something. But at that moment it was more interesting to watch him, the rest then just wanted to sleep.

We also often played with small balls - souvenirs. They were beaten against the wall, the technique was trained. In technology, however, no one has added. Okay, just kidding, added, of course.

- With Slutsky you ended up in Uralan. Did you communicate with Ilyumzhinov?

- He went into the locker room, good good man. Before me, he gave orders or medals for victories, to Samorukov, for example. It looks like he saved a penalty. Moreover, Ilyumzhinov asked not to sell the orders in any case: he was ready to take them back for 40 thousand dollars each.

- Monthly salary?

I was paid thousands of dollars 2 a month. For me, it was above my head, because I came with 5 thousand rubles. Plus bonuses - 5 or 10 thousand dollars for the victory.

- What kind of coach was Igor Shalimov at Uralan?

- I liked the man Italian football, it was interesting. He told me how to play defensively in a line. In the mornings, we only listened to this. He taught us how to maneuver: I played a pivot, pretended to open up for a defender, the attackers of the opponent ran after me, and the pass went forward. I abruptly turned around, they returned the ball to me, already free, which could be thrown to the extreme or forward. Shalimov taught to put blocks on corners so that partners could break through without interference. I can’t say that there is something so incredible about it, but I was interested.

- Did you manage to play in a line?

- Not always. With "Saturn" we somehow scored in the first minute, but by the break 1:3 were on fire. Shalimov in the locker room said: "Fuck you with your line, play personally."

- Did it help?

– No, 2:5 hit.

- Many after Euro-2008 left for Europe. You could?

- Van Basten invited me to Ajax, they invited me to Hamburg. Why didn't you go? Yes, for the same reason as in Zenit. I had a good time at Dynamo. I didn't know the language, it was scary. Here you are at home, everything is going well, why change something.

- But here in Khimki there are three thousand spectators, and there are full stadiums.

- "Arena Khimki" - too good stadium, and it is necessary to play for each spectator who comes. Now, when I am 34, I can go to Ajax, and anywhere.

– Is it really possible to find something in Europe now?

Yeah, nursing home.

- And if something with a salary of 7 thousand euros per month, in a simple club.

- 7 thousand is even a lot.

- Okay, 2 thousand euros.

Damn, even now it's scary! Of course, I would have gone, but I would not have had time to get to the airport, when I was sweating all over from excitement. Okay, these are all jokes. I speak English terribly, at the level of the third grade. it main reason Why didn't you go anywhere when you were young?

“We would come and learn. Why not?

- Yes, if it was good here, why go to someone to prove something? Yes, maybe new challenge. Now, of course, I understand that then it was possible to at least think about it. But everything suited and it seemed that there was no need to go anywhere. I'm a little sorry that I didn't take the risk, but even if I could turn back time, I still wouldn't go. Because it is necessary to return time in general to the first grade in order to start learning English normally.

Text: Gleb Cherniavsky, Ivan Karpov

A photo: Getty Images, vk.com/fcaltaykz, RIA Novosti/Anton Denisov

Georgy Cherdantsev

Notes of a football commentator

I would like to thank Anna Vladimirovna Dmitrieva for her help in writing the book and all colleagues, including those who have left us, who helped to remember or turned out to be the characters in the commentary stories cited in this book.

To my father, thanks to whom a childhood hobby became a profession

Foreword

Russia-Holland. Half an hour before the game

Good evening! Live Switzerland, the city of Basel, and here the Russian team in a few minutes will begin the quarterfinal match against the Dutch team.

(on the screen they show a close-up of a very beautiful blonde in a crowd of Russian fans),

Yes, Holland is the favourite, yes, today almost the entire stadium will cheer for the Dutch, so what? As a rule, in such meetings, when it seems to be easier for one team in the sense that it does not risk anything, this is its main trump card. Our team has already received excellent press coverage, our team is in a good mood and they can continue to play the football they showed against Sweden.

Good luck to the Russian team, good luck and a beautiful game in the quarterfinals against the brightest team of this tournament,

(they show the stands, all orange, because almost the entire stadium is filled with Dutch fans dressed in orange)

and the Dutch are the brightest not only in the color of their uniforms, not only in their national orange color. Indeed they are. The stunning football against Italy and France is proof of that. As for our fans, this is not a very pleasant story, well, simply due to the fact that we have very little experience, in fact, the first experience for Russia of participating in such matches. It turns out that tickets could be bought at a special box office simply upon presentation of a Russian passport without any, for example, travel documents. As far as I understand, people who do not support Russia, are not interested in football and the national team, took advantage of this. In front of my eyes and in front of my colleagues, these tickets went away right there, at the box office, to the Dutch for a decent price. Very few fans who supported our team fantastically in Austria came to Switzerland, I met them walking around the city. Nevertheless, behind the gates to the right of us, there will be a small but full sector with our fans, who will provide sound support to our team. All the rest are scattered around the stadium, the vast majority of the Dutch, so (addressing the viewers) your help to the Russian team today will also be needed: all together, a little bit, and this aura of positive pain will come here from all over our big Russia and help our team...

(Teams enter the field)

The White Stripes, the most beloved group at this tournament, it is under it that teams appear. You can stomp and slap,

(close-up of the captain of the Russian national team Sergei Semak)

inviting Sergei Bogdanovich Semak with the captain's armband and the Russian team in white to fight the Dutch orange team.

"Two Hollands are playing," one of the leading Dutch newspapers wrote yesterday. Well, it's clear: our coach is Dutch. However, let me disagree with this - yes, we have a Dutch coach, but there are 11 Russian guys on the field. They represent Russia today, they play under our flag, and we support them.

About the compositions, of course, in detail - a little later, but I’ll say right away: we have only one replacement (compared to the game against Sweden)- Ivan Saenko will play instead of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov in this match. The Dutch, on the other hand, did not change anything compared to the squad that played with France, because in the last group match with Romania, Van Basten gave almost all the leading players a rest. But more about all this later. An integral part of the official match is the performance of anthems, and thanks to Russia for this European Championship, for once again giving us the opportunity to sing our anthem.

(Anthem sounds)

Well, everything is ready to start this game! This is certainly a historic day for our football, so let's say again: "Forward, Russia!" and start watching football.

(Stadium chanting loudly in Dutch)

Yes, today they will sing very loudly, they will cheer loudly, there are 150 thousand of them in the city, which simply cannot be walked through - it is all orange. But it doesn't matter. I repeat once again: maybe this is our main trump card today - in a good sense, we are underdogs, the dark horses of this quarterfinal. The Russian national team can present the same surprise as Turkey, which absolutely no one expected in the semi-finals, but it is there ...

Compositions. We start with the Russian team, although formally the hosts are the Dutch, but let me start with the Russians.

Igor Akinfeev defends the goal, in defense everything is as it was, it would be nice also in terms of the quality of the game it was the same as with Greece and Sweden, so: Yura Zhirkov 18th number on the left, 8th number Denis Kolodin, 4th Sergey Ignashevich and number 22 on the right Alexander Anyukov. Number 11, defensive midfielder Sergei Semak - team captain; attack group: 17 Konstantin Zyryanov, 20 Igor Semshov, 10 Andrei Arshavin, 19 Roman Pavlyuchenko and Ivan Saenko, number 9, made his debut in this tournament from the first minutes. He will have many personal fans today: a lot of people came from Germany

(Saenko played in the German championship)

(Close-up of Hiddink, then the ball set in midfield)

Russia-Holland. 1st half

Guus Hiddink on your screens, head coach of the Russian national team, and Roman Pavlyuchenko with Igor Semshov in the center circle...

The Dutch national team is in black mourning bands today. There was a misfortune in the family of their friend, defender Khalid Boulakhruz, who accidentally got into this championship, he was not supposed to play here, he was not in the team, but Ryan Babel was injured, and Marco Van Basten, who was not satisfied with the game of his team in defense in control matches, urgently called Bulahruz to the national team. He played superbly against Italy and stayed in the starting line-up today. Khalid had a misfortune in his family, I don't want to say what kind, it seems to me that this should not be the property of everyone. There's been a tragedy

(I don’t remember: either his wife died during childbirth, or the child was born dead, something like that),

Dutch attack

The Dutch are now on the attack, serving in our penalty area ... (not dangerous)

Two 18 numbers will often oppose each other today. Brilliant Yura Zhirkov, I think you will agree, although according to what everyone else showed in the matches with Greece and Sweden, it is probably not entirely correct to single out someone, but still foreign journalists pay attention to our players, and most , of course, Akinfeev, Zhirkov, Pavlyuchenko and Arshavin had an enthusiastic press, he, however, played only one game, but HOW! Played brilliantly, of course. Well, Zhirkov, a handsome man, of course, plays simply amazing, and today it will be very interesting to see how Yura in the position - this one, found for him by Guus Hiddink - left back will cope with Dirk Kyaut.

The Dutch took the ball. Bulahruz owns it...

Ours, I emphasize once again, can play completely liberated today, no one requires them, like the Dutch from their own, to reach the semi-finals, and even more so the final, because Holland already considers itself at least a finalist: I repeat once again - 150, maybe , 200,000 Dutch people came to support their national team in Basel, which is probably home to no more than half a million... Of course, this responsibility puts pressure on Holland, and, as is often the case in football, in such big matches there is an excessive responsibility that presses on the shoulders, can play a cruel joke, and I think that this is the trump card of the Russians: they can play absolutely liberated football ...

And another positive thing that I would note, since the match has just started: the Dutch had a very significant downtime…

Russia intercepts the ball in midfield and attacks...

Now there was a great pass by the Dutchman to Roman Pavlyuchenko… Arshavin is alone in the penalty area… Roma enters the penalty area, shoots…

(inaccurate pass, moment lost)