THE DEVIL IN LUZHNIKI AND OUR GOAL

The football World Cup 2010 qualifying match between Russia and Azerbai-jan in European group 4 was played at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow.  The Russian team won 2-0.  Roman Pavlyuchenko scored the first goal in the 32nd minute from a set piece.  It has to be said, however, that the kick was not a particularly good one, but Azerbaijani goalkeeper Farhad Veliyev reacted far too late.  Commenting on Pavlyuchenko's goal, the Sport-Ekspress commentator noted:  "Only the devil knows how the goalie failed to hold the ball."  After the game, the scorer himself said that he "knew where he was going to strike and felt that the ball would find the net."  In the second half, Berti Vogts substituted Branimir Subacic, bringing on Vaqif Cavadov, which helped the team to become a little more active in attack.  Early in the second half, a Russian attack was almost successful - Arshavin missing the ball on the goal line.  But in the 71st minute Konstantin Zyryanov scored the second goal.

Weaknesses

The situation on the field was certainly under Russian control.  Nonetheless, as Russian commentators noted, the hosts failed to play the game which their fans expected of them.  The Russian players literally strolled about the pitch in the first half, so to speak.  It took them 20 minutes to get into stride.  And it took them a whole 45 minutes to finally start playing to full capacity.  The Azerbaijani team's attempts to score at least one goal were in vain. Azerbaijan did not play defensively and went onto the attack themselves, causing problems for the Russian defence.  However, their efforts yielded no results.  Our players lacked efficiency and speed.  The Azerbaijanis were clearly unable to match the pace of the Russians, which is why they tried to slow the game down.  They had their clearest chance in the 90th minute - a defender made a mistake in trying to clear the ball out of the penalty area and Vaqif Cavadov hit the post.

Before the game, commentators and the Russian players themselves pointed to the fact that the Azerbaijani team, which had been strengthened by Berti Vogts, should not be underestimated.  The team had encountered problems before the game because some players had been injured.  Kamran Agayev, Azeraijan's best player in 2008, did not play.  Leading players, Zaur Tagizada and Zaur Ramazanov, were unable to play for the same reason.  The Russian team was free of injuries.  Russian captain Sergey Semak admitted after the game that it had been difficult to win.  "Our opponents played on the counterattack, so we had to be careful in defence.  Today's game was a difficult one.  Perhaps we made more mistakes than usual," he said.  Semak noted that the Azerbaijani team's will to win was greater because a draw or a victory for them would have been a sensation.  On the other hand, Russia could not afford to drop points or lose.  Commenting on the game, Semak stressed that the opposition had "played well and tried hard.  They were very organized in defence.  Berti Vogts makes a difference."

Azerbaijan's coach was pleased with the game against Russia.  "I congratulate the Russian team on winning the three points.  We tried to make it difficult for them and I think we succeeded.  We learned lessons from a game against strong opposition.  I think that we are on the right track and moving towards playing real European football.  Our team is young; it needs the experience of playing in the international arena.  I was pleasantly surprised with how we played today.  However, the game was difficult - and all the more so because it was the first game this year.  Well, I congratulate Guus Hiddink," the German coach said.

There is a future

Answering journalists' questions about how difficult it is to work with a team which is not among the elite, but which is trying to earn a reputation and prove itself, the coach said that he had arrived in Azerbaijan on a difficult mission.  "We have done a lot of work in a year, and there are changes for the better.  My job involves not only the national team, but also the development of football in the country.  We are on the right track."  Strange though it seems, the Russian journalists offered Berti Vogts the post occupied by Guus Hiddink, whose departure from the Russian team after the world championship is now certain.  The coach diplomatically denied receiving an offer and said that he prefers not to think about what happens the day after tomorrow:  "I wish Hiddink a long career as the head coach of your team.  Under him, Russia has started to play a different kind of football.  I like watching them play.  They play fast, aggressive football, which cannot be compared to what they played before.  Russia should try to keep its coach for as long as possible."

Journalists also touched on an issue which is important to Azerbaijani football - the naturalization of foreign players - at the post-match news conference.  Berti Vogts said that there are no foreigners in the Azerbaijani team.  "They have Azerbaijani passports, so they are Azerbaijani nationals.  Otherwise they would not be able to play for our team.  And these players have been living in Azerbaijan much longer than I have.  And I do not have a passport," he said.

Answering questions about which of his players would be able to prove himself in a stronger national championship, Azerbaijan's head coach stressed that "with due attention, seven or eight players would be able to play not only in Russia, but even in Germany.  There are many talented players in Azerbaijan.  We have opened a football academy.  So our future is bright."

For his part, Russia's head coach Guus Hiddink said, when commenting on the game, that it was pleasant to win the first game after a month-long separation from the team and less than one week of work.  "We had very few problems in defence, only near the end.  We met with some difficulties when some of the players decided that the game was already over.  This is worth focusing on.  This will not work against stronger opponents."

As for Azerbaijan's play, Hiddink said that they had performed well:  "Our opponents controlled the ball for a long time, and this did not surprise us:  we knew what our visitors were capable of.  That they did not always manage to create good chances near our goal is a different matter.  Our opponents played a good game.  They did not come on the pitch to stay in defence; they tried to create moments in attack."

Overall, Azerbaijan's game cannot be called satisfactory.  As always, there were flaws.  In particular, there were many problems in defence, where bad mistakes were made in the most innocuous situations.  Russia's second goal was scored by Konstantin Zyryanov, who was left unmarked by Azerbaijani defender Camsid Maharramov.  And the first goal was the result of a bad mistake by the goalkeeper.  The strikers lack technical skills, because our forwards could not penetrate the opposition penalty area.  Nonetheless, the progress is obvious, and the credit for this goes to the German head coach.

One of the most pleasant aspects of the game was the support.  The stands were full, despite the fact that the Russia-Azerbaijan game was not expected to be particularly interesting.  More than 60,000 spectators came to the stadium to watch the game.

Now we pin our hopes on the home game to be played in Baku.  Hopefully, our players will play a better game.