We look ahead optimistically

Senior coach of the women youth team of Russia Valentin Gavva commented on the results of a mini-tournament of the 1st qualifying round of 2019 UEFA UERO U-19 in Austria, where our team got the right to perform at the Elite round of the tournament.

– It seemed from that the stands the fate of the final match of the first round against Austria was defined by two corner-kicks. Is it true?

– Yes, but setting pieces is also a part of the game; we watched and analyzed them. We knew that the player number 6 in the Austrian team is well-built and in most cases wins a struggle, ends it with a blow. It was hard with her; we set a personal guarding, but didn’t make it. As for the second corner – it was a certain mess there, unfortunately; it is unacceptable to miss such balls.

– So, it was possible to oppose something to such strong rivals, wasn’t it?

– Height is not always the most important thing. Desire to struggle and accurate play can help in such situations. There are lots of footballers who, being not so high, often win. Pitifully, we didn’t play out here.

-It is difficult to be satisfied with the result – we lost 0:3. But were there any moments that you liked?

-The game in whole was well-worked. We needed a victory today and we tried to face a higher opponent. But not in every episode we had enough strength to endure the pace we had set ourselves, although we took breaks sometimes and rolled back. But Austria is a very good rival and the level of its game and team’s interaction is rather high. It is interesting to meet such opponents, but the score is undoubtedly too big for such a game.

-What mark would you give to the team judging from the whole mini-tournament?

-Four with the minus. We held two qualitative matches, scored seven balls, didn’t lose any and made our way to the Elite round. But unfortunately we didn’t manage to become the first.

– Elite round is ahead. Is there an understanding of what is needed to get the chance of reaching out the final?

– Of course. But first of all we have to wait for a draw to know what teams we will confront and the time of the next tournament. And continue to work. We have strong players in the team; not all of them are in good conditions at the moment, some even didn’t come here due to injuries. This fact has an explanation: we are at the end of the season, lots of injuries and exhaustion have stored up. Our line-up is constantly on the hook because of small injuries and not the best shape of the players. So, we look ahead optimistically. In spite of the harsh defeat at the end of the tournament even this match showed that we can play on equal ground, however there are some moments, where we need to add. But our girls grow too, gather some confidence, so we are optimistic and wish luck to the clubs in preparing  players to the next season.