Russia Beats France in Soccer Match With Ukraine Reaping Rewards

These are the opinions of the coaches of both teams, Andorra's Santiago Marin and Ukraine's Leonid Buriak.

"Mr. Marin, what was your goal?"

"I told the players, 'Hold out for the first half an hour of the game, or you will be torn apart and miss half a dozen goals.' First they managed to defend their flanks, but shortly before the break they made a mistake and their goal was hit. However during the break I praised the guys: they played well."

"In the game with France your team held out to the 73rd minute, when the world champions hit their first of two goals. The Ukrainians managed to do it already in the first period. Could you compare the two games?"

"The issue is that I was not Andorra's coach when we played in Paris. I will say just this: everything depends on her Majesty Fortune."

"Now a question for Leonid Buriak. After the failure in home play against Iceland, how did you foresee the tactic used by Andorra team and how did you instruct your players?"

"We had two aims: first, to achieve some result with small losses, and second, to see in what shape now are Mykytyn, Tsykhmeistruk, Myzyn, and Skachenko. Besides, Oleksandr Shovkovsky badly injured his foot during one of the last practices, and we will have a very serious game with Armenian team in Yerevan."

"Were the apparently forced changes, when Dmytrulin took the position of right halfback and Tsykhmeistruk played forward, good ones?

"We referred, first of all, to the information we got from the clubs. Tsykhmeistruk now is TsSKA captain, he plays successfully in the Ukrainian Championship, so we decided to try him in the main team. And he didn't let us down."

"All four goals were hit after flank head passes. Did you purposely stress it in training or was it a coincidence?"

"Yes, the coaches pay special attention to second tier play, and in our plan we specially emphasized head passes. But, as card players say, it was pure chance that all the goals were hit using this method."

"Will there be any changes in your team before the game in Armenia?"

"The doctors will give the final verdict. As you yourselves saw, Dmytrulin and Popov were hurt."

"And the final question. While broadcasting the game between Russia and Belarus the commentator mentioned that you have been invited to train Tula Arsenal. Will Ukrainian team lose one of its coaches?"

"Maybe the Russian club made such an offer to another Leonid Buriak. I was on a business trip during that match and don't know anything about what was said then. But anyway, first I will go to Armenia, and not to Russia."

Andriy Bal, 1980s Kyiv Dynamo halfback comments: "Ukraine's team has always had many problems with teams that pay much attention to defense, even though lower in class. And in this match, too, our players managed to hit twice their exotic rivals' goal only late in the first period."

Antonio Limasola, player of Madeira and Andorra's national team: "Honestly speaking, we are not very upset with the result of the game. Most of our players are amateurs for whom soccer is more of a hobby. We spent almost the whole game on our half of the field and were trying only to defend our goal. Today we have seen the level we should strive for. And we thank the Ukrainians for the lesson."