“Playing con anima and fighting to the end” – these words pasted on the side of the Russian national team’s bus were its official motto at the Euro. The motto was chosen by fans who wanted their players to fight up to the last ditch. Russian people have always extolled the heart above the mind, even though this may not always be appropriate.
Russian footballers on the contrary played mostly bland games and apparently lacked passion. Against the backdrop of those who were ready to die in the last ditch, the lack of emotions immediately caught the eyes.
Throughout the group stage one could not get rid of the feeling that our team decided to outclass its opponents on the premise of their superiority. Our footballers seemed to suffer in their estate; they seemed eager to put an end to their suffering as fast as possible and reach the quarterfinals where real football was to start. It was like they were sitting at a tedious ceremony looking at their watches in anticipation of the great banquet – with Germany, Portugal, Spain and other real teams.
After they defeated Czech Republic 4 to 1, their smugness further increased, especially given that some time earlier they had beaten Italy 3:0 in a warm-up match. Who would not imagine himself a Heracles after beating one of the world’s strongest teams? Well, self-confidence is not a bad attitude, but only when it is buttressed at least with some emotions.
We could utter the truism about the “underestimation of opponents,” but this is not the crux of the matter. I don’t think Poland or Greece showed something unexpected for the Russian players. The paradox is that Russia indeed played much better than Czechs, Poles and certainly Greeks in terms of craftsmanship and technique. But unlike Karagunis and his mates, our footballers had no glow in the eyes and did not strain their every sinew.
The goal conceded on Saturday showcased the general attitude of our team towards the tournament. All defenders occasionally make mistakes like the one by Ignashevich that cost us the goal. The point is, however, that Zhirkov could easily retain the ball in the game, should he show more zeal, and there would be no out that resulted in Karagunis’ raid one-on-one against Malafeyev (a similar goal was scored by Arshavin in 2008, when he outplayed Van der Saar). The midfield of Anzhi failed to tame the ball after the pass from Glushakov and stopped instead of trying to catch the ball that went out of touch. Why wasting energy at the end of the first half? We paid a high price for this philosophy.
German forward Mario Gomez described football as a black-and-white sport: today you are extolled and tomorrow you are verbally destroyed. I wouldn’t argue that all of our players were indifferent and smug. When his partner lost footing 3 minutes before the goal, the same Glushakov not just ran but rushed back and hit the leg of Karagunis quite hard. Was it not because Glushakov as a reserve player did his best to prove his worth, whereas Zhirkov thought he was indispensable and did not think it necessary to break his neck? Incidentally, the Lokomotiv player was the only one who honestly characterized that game as a shame.
Another chapter in the history of Russian football has drawn to a close. Now bear play is about to begin at RFU, then we’ll know the name of the new head coach who will most likely proclaim a new policy. But regardless of who will play for the next national team, by and large people expect only one thing from footballers: “playing con anima and fighting to the end.”
Dmitry Zelenov
Source: Sport Express
