Russia look to repeat Intercontinental Cup heroics of 2015
DUBAI: Being the only team, apart from hosts UAE, to compete in all eight editions of the Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup Dubai, Russia are real veterans in this competition.
However, last year Russia experienced their lowest finish, concluding the competition in fourth place behind Iran, Portugal and champions Brazil.
But Mikhail Likhachev’s side, after an intense season in the Euro beach Soccer League, are ready and raring to hit the sand and repeat the heroics of 2015, when Russia beat Tahiti 5-2 in the final.
“We have had a lot of time to recover and get fit again”, said Team Russia captain, Anton Shkarin. “All the players rest in their own ways. Now we are ready to get back to work and prepare well for the tournament.”
The last two years have seen Russia knocked out of the Intercontinental Cup in the semi-finals, in 2016 by Brazil and in 2017 by Portugal. This team is well aware of the stiff competition that stands between them and the prestigious trophy.
“There are no weak opponents at the Intercontinental Cup. Everyone is really strong but in different ways. That is why I was not nervous at all before the draw. It did not matter who we were drawn against”, commented the captain, who added some words of positivity, excitement and ambition.
“The Intercontinental Cup is one of our favourite competitions. Of course, we want to repeat the success of 2015. I remember that tournament pretty well.”
Russia’s decorated skipper has spent years travelling the world and winning beach soccer trophies, but this event is different for Shkarin and his team.
”Dubai is a special place for us indeed. For some reason we always have a special atmosphere within the squad when we are there. It’s like there’s some kind of magic involved.”
There is another reason why Dubai may feel like a home from home for Team Russia. The city has quite a large Russian population and a good portion of them turn out to see their national team play year after year, and Anton Shkarin had a special message for those fans.
“The Russian speaking people in attendance is a big help for the team. We want to thank all these people who come to the stadium every year to support us. We are always happy to travel to Dubai with team Russia.”