| Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su |
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 |
Let’s confess: we were not worried about the result of that match before it started. We looked through the list of the Welsh players with a forbearing smile and thought: "who can resist us, the semifinalists of Euro 2008?" Moreover nothing has changed in our team – neither squad, nor atmosphere, nor coach.
But life again showed that we could not make conclusions resting on such things as “atmosphere” or “attitude”. These all are personal that means subjective impressions. Only the game can answer the question if anything has changed in the team.
Two previous qualifying rounds began for us with draws – with Slovakia and Croatia (then Israel). That should have put us on the alert. But no – we have started a new life!
But that cannot be true. The problems that our team has had for decades cannot have disappeared at once. The situation with Turkey that after winning bronze on World championship 2002 did not manage to get into Euro 2004 or World championship 2006, as well as with Greece that after gold of Euro 2004 missed out on World championship 2006 set one thinking. You should learn how to “digest” your success. Not everybody is capable of it.
The first half of the yesterday’s match looked as if we managed to “digest” excluding the penalty that was wonderfully saved by Akinfeev. This penalty seemed absurdity. Pavlyuchenko was the best on the field, he shot at the goal from every possible point. He scored the penalty though adventurous, but success is never blamed. And the winner in this episode was not only forward but also the coach. Everybody told Guus not to add Pavlyuchenko into the starting eleven. But I again convinced myself how good that our coach does not know Russian. He is doing the way his experience tells him. Pavlyuchenko was one of the heroes on Euro, and he did not let the team down yesterday.
But his might-have-been partner in Spurs Andrei Arshavin looked frustrated. He tried to get the ball but everything failed. We know – why. He was deprived of his dream, and he himself said to abstract away from that he had to “turn over his head” but obviously yesterday his head would not turn over.
After the first goal everybody wanted our team to score another one before the break that would have ended the torment. But at the end of the first half we have loosened our grip and in the second half looked the way we used to be not of the Euro time, but of three or four years ago. And the goal of Wales was not at all an accident. Everybody ran cold and began recalling other results: Austria – France – 3:1, Romania – Lithuania – 0:3.
Though Hiddink does not know the word “panic”. He let Pogrebnyak play, though his feelings to the national team were not at all known after his story with Euro 2008. It took him seven minutes to allay all doubts.
All is well that ends well! Maybe that is good for us that this match turned to be so difficult. That would make our team to look in the mirror and say that we are not afraid of anybody.
Igor Rabiner
