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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Gudjon TORDARSSON:"I told my boys to fight to the death!"

13 November, 2012 - 00:00

By Oleksandr HONCHARUK, The Day

Of course, the Kyiv spectator leaving the Olympic stadium after the match
between the national teams of Ukraine and Iceland was not in the best mood:
it was only a 1:1 draw. After a brilliant game in France against the 1998
world champions, many will assess the result in Kyiv as a failure. But
should we despair? The Europe-2000

championship qualifying tournament is far from over, and we are among
the leaders. But, what is more, the way our national squad plays testifies
to its considerable potential and inspires hope in the hearts of fan. This
gives excellent chances to storm the Icelandic castle in Reykjavik, make
a victorious bow to the French in Kyiv, and strike a high note

in Moscow.

It is clear, and this always happens, that manager of the rival teams
come to a press conference in different moods. This is caused by the result
and the extent to which they are satisfied with the actions of their players. 
The visitors' Gudjon Tordarsson was pleased to come to see the journalists.

"I will not be asking if you are satisfied with the result of the
match. It needs no words. But still..."

"You may have heard it in my pre-match statement when I stressed we
had come for a draw. I gave a simple task before the game: 'Boys, fight
to the death!' Which they did."

"Is it for this that you placed five players in the defense line?"

"Why only five? We also had a libero, as well as several halfbacks inclined
to play defense."

"But you, naturally, had studied the Ukrainian tactics and gave your
players specific instructions, didn't you?"

"Yes, I had studied the host team's playing style and I watched the
video of the Paris match about five times. So the main instruction was
as follows: break the pattern of the rivals' play by means of lengthy encounters,
drag out the time, and, what is more, cut into the Rebrov-Shevchenko tandem's
room for maneuver."

"Did you identify the hosts' vulnerable points to find a chance of
your own in attack?"

"Standard situations. It turned out I wasn't mistaken. As to the complaints
of many over the goal scored 'illogically' after a free kick thanks to
a ricochet, these are details."

"Which of your players would you single out?"

"None. I was pleased with their team spirit and that the boys did not
break after a loosing possession. This already testifies to the stability
of and coordination in the team."

"The first leg of the qualifying tournament is over. What place did
you plan to take at the end before it started and what do you plan now?"

"We planned on fourth. But now, having experienced no bitter defeats,
we feel we can try to do better. This has been confirmed by two draws with
the French and Ukrainian national teams and a win over the Russians. Probably,
if Mr. Szabo's players beat the world champions at home and we stayd undefeated
in Paris the way we did in Kyiv, we'll get a reasonable chance to make
it to the finals.

"Perhaps an important role in changing our plans was also played by
the injury of Zidane. I'll tell you frankly: when I learned he wouldn't
go out on the Stade de France, I said in an interview with Icelandic
reporters that I did not see how the French could beat the Ukrainians.
And if Shevchenko had not missed his chance..."

Unlike his counterpart, Jozsef Szabo was more restrained in assessing
the Ukrainian players.

"Mr. Szabo, were the boys still recovering from the Paris match?"

"We all saw it. Of course, the break after that excruciating encounter
with the French was too short. But, paradoxically, our compatriots, the
stadium workers, also contributed to our failed performance. When we came
over and started our pre-match warm-up, we got so upset: the grass was
in a terrible state and looked more like a collective farm field. I even
had to approach each player and comfort him: look, our opponents will also
play here. So we had the same conditions. However, deep in my heart, I
saw they were not the same: it is harder to create and easier to ruin.
And this played into the Icelanders' hands. Our attacking forwards found
it very difficult to 'tame' the ball on an uneven field. Luzhny told me
during the break that he was shooting in one direction but the ball was
going another. If I were the stadium manager, I would offer my resignation."

"Let's get down to the game. You, of course, expected to see a monolithic
defense from the visitors?"

"Sure. Of course, I thought they had placed eight or nine players in
the defense line, but not all ten, frankly speaking.

"As to fatigue, perhaps we should have sent some fresh players on. But
we played in a very concerted way in Paris, so I thought the boys would
be able to take it and win. Unfortunately, many of them never recovered,
so there was too little organization. The Icelanders also organized their
defense very skillfully, leaving the high technique of Shevchenko and Rebrov
floundering."

"Don't you think the crosses lobbed on the goal area were predictably
ineffective? For the visitors do very nice headers and are taller than
our boys."

"You're right there. But again, the center was blocked completely, so
what else could they do?"

"Yet, there was success at first. If only they had developed it!"

"Yes, Vashchuk's goal was excellent indeed. And again we had hard luck.
The ball, flying well wide, rebounded and got into the net. It was not
even a scoring chance."

"You haven't won today, but there is a leg ahead. And you are still
in the lead."

"Of course, I wish we hadn't missed a win, but now we are going to score
points  on other fields. And I also want the Kyivans, who make up
the core of the national squad, to regain their strength before the match
against Bayern. For the destiny of our country's main team also depends
on how they feel."

 

Jozsef SZABO: "The pitch was like a collective farm"
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