This has never happened before and here it is again. Before the whole country had time to cry with joy over the fact that the Brunei national team would fly to Krasnodar on November 15 to play the most important match with our national team, sad news leaked to Moscow from the camp. of the 183rd team in the FIFA Rankings.
The Brunei Football Association sent a courier dispatch to the RFU (Russian Football Union) with the following content:
“We will send a second team to Russia. Most of the main team players will not be able to come. They will be on vacation. They only have one deadline for this: three weeks in November, because preseason training begins in December. Most of the players in the second team are from the MS ABDB team, which belongs to the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, but the army is just a name, they do not fight.
Almost all footballers are not professionals. That is, they have a main job, and then, starting at 4:30 p.m., they train as part of their clubs.
Players are currently being selected for a trip to Russia. The deadline to submit player names is Saturday.”
The RFU stated in dismay: “We have not yet received data on the composition of the invited delegation. According to the agreement for the Russia-Brunei match, the Russian opponent must be represented by the first team.”
It is worth remembering here that something similar happened last October with the match against the Pakistan team, when the local federation teletyped “about the flag”: “We cannot play Russia in October due to organizational problems, but perhaps we will bring an ‘unofficial team’ to Moscow.”
An inexperienced reader will wonder: what is it, an unofficial team? I’ll explain it to you. A sporty-looking young man walks through Islamabad. Two guys from the local soccer federation approach him and ask: have you ever played ball? He answers: yes, the champion of Sindh province in mini football. Officials ask: do you want to fly to Russia and play two halves? There they will buy you boots, give you something to eat, a free hotel and again an excursion to the Mausoleum. The discouraged boy answers: of course I want to. Say your name, address, phone number and wait for a call. Something like this.
And when the Pakistanis jumped, the coach of the Russian team Valery Karpin saying:
“This is not a normal opponent. This is my opinion, does it make any sense not to play for the national team? There is no point in playing with people from Pakistan. There are certain procedures that the national team and the federation follow. Application forms are sent to UEFA and FIFA. And if the national team match doesn’t count, then it doesn’t make sense.”
Head of the RFU Alexander Dukov He then explained to Match TV why the national team is looking for ANY opponent:
“Right now, matches with official teams are a priority for us. We made this decision based on a discussion with the national team coaching staff. In these games we add points for the FIFA ranking. In the future, hypothetically, we will be able to discuss the possibility of holding a match again. [с командой Медиалиги]”
In turn, the honorary president of the RFU Vyacheslav Koloskov commented on Brunei’s shame:
“What, are your first team professionals? There was a time when we played with an amateur soccer team from Andorra and we barely won. They also played the Faroe Islands and somehow won by a whisker. Does it really matter who comes? Let them come to play. I think we won’t see much difference anyway. The main thing is to play.”
The former defender of the Russian national team did not remain silent either. Taras Burlak:
“It’s bad that we’re basically playing with Brunei, because no one knows where it is. This is Asia. And the fact that this is also the second team… I wouldn’t be surprised if Karpin went crazy and sent everyone to hell. He gave a clear message that he didn’t want to play with anyone! We need to see how the situation will evolve; there are many questions.
Probably, when we agreed, there were some obligations, maybe this was a violation of the contract. The boys don’t feel very comfortable playing either. When you play for the national team with some opponents, it’s fine, but when you play with someone unknown… It really smells like a circus.”
Meanwhile, while collecting information on sports portals, the head of the Brunei Football Association department Emmyelia Cartiena He said excitedly:
“The words that the Brunei team will travel to Russia for an international friendly match as an amateur are not entirely true. Our team is currently in the process of recruiting players, we have a long list and the head coach is focusing on the best talents in the Brunei Super League.
Several promising players will travel to Russia, but two or three players will not be available for this match due to personal commitments such as weddings and other urgent matters. “The words on behalf of our association have been misinterpreted and much of what journalists conveyed does not fully reflect reality.”
In any case, you and I, dear readers, will have the opportunity to compare the composition of the team that will appear on the emerald grass of the beautiful Krasnodar stadium with the Brunei team, which tied (0-0) in the official match with the East Timor team on October 15. Then we will check Ms. Cartiena’s sincerity. Otherwise, you know, a wedding, urgent matters, a long list, comings and goings, scrofula…
But in the entire barrel of ointment indicated there is also a teaspoon of honey. Director of Communications of the Syrian Football Association Emad Amiri He stated that only professional footballers from his team will fly to a friendly match with Russia:
“We have a contract with the RFU according to which professionals participate in the game. From the Syrian team, only professional players who are part of the national team will travel to Volgograd. “There will be no fans or players who have not been recruited by professional teams.”
The Russia-Syria meeting will take place in Volgograd on November 19 (at 19:30 Moscow time).
P.S. DOHA, October 4 – RIA Novosti. Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Mikhail Degtyarev declared at the Asia Cooperation Dialogue summit: “The question of a replay of a friendly match between the teams of Qatar and Russia will be decided between the football federations. The Qatari side, and not only the Qatari side, has that interest. Many countries have expressed their desire to play friendly matches with the Russian team. “The Russian Football Union is actively working on this issue.”
