Tuesday is incredibly rich in football matches of all stripes. The brightest posters are hidden in the schedule of friendly matches. I propose to talk about them in the next review of my blog.
The international break is ending and dozens of matches in different categories are scheduled for Tuesday. There is also room for qualifying rounds for the 2018 World Cup and plenty of friendly games. Of course, friendly matches are not the most profitable market. Especially now, when the important ending of the national championships lies ahead. Nevertheless, these matches are of great interest and I propose to discuss the most interesting matches game day.
Don't forget to leave your thoughts and ideas in the comments. And before we start discussing friendly matches, I remind you that the day before I posted detailed review qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup in Asia. This topic is also relevant and interesting. Well, now I propose to return to friendly games and discuss them further.
Austria - Türkiye
A meeting of two teams of approximately the same class that have made it to the Euro and intend to make some noise there. The Austrian national team has long declared itself and has only progressed in recent years. The result of this progress was first place in the qualifying group for the next continental championship.
The Austrians have a good generation, in which there is room for some pretty stellar players in Alaba and Arnautovic. This team is hardworking, plays well in attack and plays well in defense. However, at home the Austrians will think more about attacking, trying to please their home crowd. Their attack is good and the Austrians are simply obliged to score a goal in their home country. Moreover, the Turkish team is far from being a role model for defensive play.
But the Turks have character and also have a good attack. Of course, Türkiye today does not have the strongest generation. But this team, like any Turkish team, is very purposeful and is not used to giving up. So Austria will not have an easy walk here and they will probably not be able to keep their goal intact. They, of course, know how to play defensively... But if the Albanian team managed to score against them, why should Turkey be left without a goal? It is obvious that the Austrians' concentration in friendly matches is not at the highest level.
Forecast: both will score 1.92 (according to the BetCity line).
Sweden - Czech Republic
The reporting meeting, despite the bookmaker's quotes, promises us an abundance of goals scored. At least according to expectations. The Czech national team at the moment, perhaps, does not have big names on its roster, but this does not prevent them from demonstrating good play and achieving positive results. The Czech national team took first place in a very difficult qualifying group for the Euro and received a direct ticket to a major continental tournament.
A distinctive feature of the Czech national team, at the moment, can be called a love of attacking play. It is quite clearly reflected in the performance of matches involving the Czech Republic. This team willingly runs forward, creates many chances and usually scores goals. But at the same time, the Czech Republic cannot boast of a reliable defensive game. The Czech team played its last friendly match against Scotland and that game ended in a minimal defeat. However, judging by the statistics, the Czech Republic had many attempts to score a goal. It didn’t work out then, but this time the chances are good.
Sweden will not sit on the defensive at home and will rely on attack itself. Therefore, the guests must have enough space for their attacks. The Swedes do not shine in defense and the guests should be able to excel. Equal, like the Swedes themselves. The defense of the Czech national team, as you remember, plays very poorly. Sweden, of course, will most likely be without Ibrahimovic... But even in his absence, the team has someone to score against. Moreover, the game is friendly, and the opponent is not the most formidable.
Forecast: both will score 2.00, total over 2.50 2.34 (according to BetCity).
Switzerland - Bosnia and Herzegovina
Both teams prefer attacking football and most often play effectively. Both teams' attack is definitely stronger than their defense. This confrontation is of a friendly nature and this fact should liberate the teams and allow them to get excited about the game. In this context, it is personally difficult for me not to expect open and effective football here.
Forecast: total is more than 2.50 2.05 (according to the BetCity line).
Portugal - Belgium
The Portuguese played their last friendly match at home against the Bulgarian team with a minimal score. At the same time, Ronaldo has not yet scored a penalty. I didn’t see that match, but judging by logic and statistics, it followed a fairly typical scenario: a Bulgarian bus that the Portuguese attack could not overcome. This time, the Portuguese national team should be easier to create scoring chances and implement them.
The Belgian national team is one of the giants of current football. This team is perfectly equipped and is no longer afraid of anyone. She will not lock herself up, but will play football. So, it will be easier for the Portuguese to attack and create chances - there should be more space for this. And they simply have to score a goal here. Ronaldo must play - and this is already an argument in favor of a goal. In addition, we remember everything that was said above and add here the fact that the visiting defense is not in the best combination now. After all, Vertonghen and Company are out of the lineup. So, for the second game in a row, the Portuguese national team should not be left without a goal.
True, I don’t see any arguments in favor of the fact that the Portuguese themselves will be able to keep their gates locked. Belgium are well equipped up front and capable of scoring even in Eden Hazard's absence. Moreover, the latter is now not in in better shape. The same cannot be said, at least, about Lukaku. And Portugal’s defense has been playing very mediocre for a long time. The goals are thrown into the Portuguese goal quite often and Belgium is unlikely to be left without a goal scored. So is Portugal.
Forecast: both will score 2.00 (according to the BetCity line).
England - Holland
One of the main meetings of the game day, in which I see the main bet in favor of the individual total of the British. The reasons for selection are described below.
The Three Lions team has made significant progress over the past year. Hodgson gathered under the banner national team There are a lot of talented young people and England are finally playing not only from defense. After all, at first, the union of the national team and Hodgson, sometimes the football played by this team was impossible to watch. Hodgson played very cautious, and at times cowardly, football. He went to visit his opponents for a draw - without thinking about winning. Now everything has changed and the England team is capable of playing as number one and playing competently in defense. The “three lions” team has changed and is now a very formidable force. And the recent Victoria in Berlin is clear evidence of this. The Germans may have backed down slightly after their victory at the World Cup, but it is simply impossible to overestimate the victory in Berlin. Germany led 2:0 and lost 2:3. The English showed class and character.
Now they have a home game against the Dutch, who are going through difficult times. No, they, of course, have a lot of talented young people interspersed with experienced players. But so far the Dutch are far from perfect shape. Their team failed the selection and did not qualify for the Euro. During the qualifying campaign, the “orange” squad changed several coaches, tried a bunch of tactics and combinations of players on the field. But everything is in vain - Holland lacks stability, looks scattered on the field and literally makes mistakes. The main problem of the national team is the incredibly weak defense and those same mistakes. You simply cannot count them... The defense makes mistakes, the players make mistakes when leaving the defense, the players make mistakes all over the field. In general, the Dutch team is now quite weak and is significantly inferior to the British.
England will play at home, at Wembley, where the crowd is very demanding. She will demand even more from her favorites after such a resounding victory in Germany. So, whatever one may say, the home team will attack and play only to win. Moreover, the Dutch team is a good irritant.
I’m not offering victory, but I’m putting the individual total up for everyone to see. The reasons for the simplicity are the weakness of the Dutch defense. Remember what you did in last meeting French national team players. And this is on the opponent’s field. I think that today’s England, at Wembley, and after an inspiring victory over the German national team, simply cannot leave the field without scoring at least two goals against the current Dutch national team.
Forecast: IT1B 1.50 1.83 (via BetCity).
Kosovo - Türkiye - 1:6
While the participants in the upcoming World Cup are slowly beginning to prepare for the World Cup, the teams that did not qualify for the World Championship also gathered for training camps to play games before the matches qualifying stage Euro 2016.
However, there is a team for which participation in a friendly match is a significant event. The Kosovo national team recently received the right to meet with teams that are members of FIFA. But Kosovo has not yet been allowed to participate in official tournaments. According to FIFA rules, only teams from those countries that are recognized by the world community are allowed to participate in the games of continental and world championships. Kosovo is not yet included in this number, so the request to include this country's football association in FIFA was rejected.
At the FIFA executive committee in Tokyo, which took place in December 2012, the Kosovo national team was allowed to hold friendly matches with other national teams, which, of course, caused a lot of protests, in particular from Serbia.
However, on March 5, the Soaring Eagles, as the team is called in Kosovo, played their first friendly match under the auspices of FIFA. The Kosovars' opponent was the Haitian national team, and the match ended in a goalless draw.
A significant event for the partially recognized republic was overshadowed by a not very pleasant episode: before the match, fans in the stands burned the Serbian flag. The Serbian Federation immediately responded to the incident by sending a protest to FIFA, which included a demand to ban the Kosovo national team from playing football matches. The expected reaction from the Serbian side did not follow, and the Kosovo team began to prepare for the second meeting in its history, this time with a much more powerful opponent.
The Kosovo Football Federation managed to invite the Turkish national team to Mitrovica, which did not qualify for the World Cup, but is already starting preparations qualifying matches Euros, which will start in the fall. In addition to the match with Turkey, the Kosovars will play against the Senegal national team on May 25 in Geneva.
Currently head coach The Kosovo national team is concerned about the formation of the team, which so far has attracted mainly players from local clubs. Serbian players with a Kosovo passport are also invited. It is reported that for agreeing to play under the banner of Kosovo, football players in the lower Serbian divisions are promised a reward of 10 thousand euros, and yet many players refuse money and the opportunity to play for the new national team.
There are potential Kosovo players among famous European football players.
For example, starlet Andan Januzaj hesitated for a long time about which team he should play for. The footballer's father recommended that he accept the invitation of the Kosovo national team, but Januzaj ultimately opted for the Belgian national team and is now preparing for the World Cup.
Bayern winger Xherdan Shaqiri, who plays for the Swiss national team but has Kosovo roots, recently said that he does not rule out the possibility of playing for the Kosovo national team if the federation fully joins FIFA and international football authorities allow players who played for other teams to re-enter self-determinate.
By the way, the Kosovo national team receives its guests at the stadium named after Adem Jashari, who is considered a national hero of the republic and is at the same time recognized as a terrorist in Serbia. Jashari, one of the ideologists and commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, was killed in 1998 during a special operation by Yugoslav anti-terrorist special forces.
Returning to Januzaj, it is worth noting that the Manchester United midfielder had the opportunity to play for the Turkish national team, so in the Kosovo-Turkey match Andan could theoretically play for any of the teams.
The coach of the Turkish national team, for obvious reasons, decided to experiment in the match with Kosovo and invited not the most famous football players. Among those called up was Caner Erkin, whom Russian fans may remember from his brief stint with CSKA Moscow. Now 25-year-old Erkin plays for Fenerbahce.
Already in the second minute of the match, the Kosovo team conceded the first goal in its history, and in the 34th minute - the second. In 90 minutes, the goals conceded ceased to surprise the assembled fans, because the Turks sent as many as six goals into Kushtrim Musica's goal.
But in the 35th minute of the meeting he forever entered the history of Kosovo football as the man who scored the first goal of the Kosovo national team. By the way, the forward of the German Kaiserslautern was previously involved in the Swiss national team and was even included in the squad for the World Cup in 2010.
As a result, the Kosovars lost with a score of 1:6, but opened the scoring with goals scored. The players of the Kosovo national team will be able to correct the difference in goals scored and conceded on May 25 in the match with Senegal.
Finland - Czech Republic - 2:2
The Finns, like the Czechs, did not qualify for the World Cup and are now starting to assemble a squad that will fight to qualify for the 2016 European Championship. Finland was in a group with Greece, Hungary, Romania, Northern Ireland and the Faroe Islands.
The draw sent Chekhov to Group A, where Pavel Vrba’s team will have to fight the Netherlands, Turkey, Latvia, Iceland and Kazakhstan.
Terek defender Juhani Ojala was included in the starting lineup of the Finnish national team, and his counterpart in the center of defense in the Czech national team was ex-Moscow football player Marek, the rights to which still belong to the red-and-whites, but Suchy spent the past season in Basel.
The most interesting events The match fit into an interval of three minutes, during which the opponents managed to score three times. In the 18th minute, Celtic forward Tiemu Pukki burst into the penalty area and powerfully shot over Tomas Vaclik, who was replacing the injured Petr Cech in the Czech team's goal.
Literally a minute later, Matej Vydra took advantage of Dočkala’s excellent pass and coolly shot past Lukas Hradecky, and before the Czechs could finish rejoicing at the goal, Pukki scored a double, skillfully implementing a one-on-one situation.
This time, the guests failed to get even in a minute, and it took a quarter of an hour to restore the status quo - in the 36th minute, Hradecki took advantage of a blunder on the way out and sent the ball into the empty net.
In the second half, the Czech team had a game advantage, but failed to create real chances at Vaclik’s goal. The Finns were even less successful in attack, and as a result, the second 45 minutes turned out to be “dry”, making the score of the first half the final result meetings.
Liechtenstein - Belarus - 1:5
In Belarus, everyone is passionate about the World Cup taking place in Minsk and the successes of the Belarusian national team, which made it to the playoffs for the first time in five years.
The Belarusian football players decided to keep up with their hockey colleagues and, on a calm day at the ice championship, please the fans with a football victory. To be sure, Liechtenstein was chosen as a rival.
The football “dwarf” is gradually growing up, and in the qualifying for the World Cup the Liechtenstein team managed to take points from Latvia (1:1) and even Slovakia (1:1). By the way, the Belarusian national team will have to play against the Slovaks in the qualifying tournament for Euro 2016, and the sparring with Liechtenstein can be explained by the upcoming matches with Luxembourg, which also ended up in Group C. It is clear that Luxembourg will not be the most formidable opponent - Belarusians will also have to fight with Spain, Ukraine and Macedonia.
Three representatives of the Russian Premier League appeared in the main composition of the Belarusian national team: captain of Krasnodar Alexander Martynovich, midfielder and forward of Volga, who was remembered by Nizhny Novgorod fans for his fantastic Messi-style goal against Terek.
There were no RFPL players among the Liechtenstein football players, which is not surprising, given that most of the collections are amateur football players.
In the 13th minute, the scoring was opened by the BATE midfielder, who confidently dealt with the goalkeeper, jumping out one on one. Two minutes later he scored: the midfielder took advantage of the rebound after a free kick and headed the ball into the net.
In the middle of the first half, Krivets scored a double, being the first to finish off Rodionov's shot. In the 58th minute, the Neman forward who appeared as a substitute responded to Putilo’s pass and sent the ball into the top corner. Ten minutes later, Savitsky scored his second goal, converting a one-on-one situation.
In the 78th minute, the hosts spoiled the mood of the Belarusians a little by getting one goal back. Alexander Martynovich “brought” the penalty, and was accurate from the 11-meter mark.
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17 years ago our team won one of greatest victories in its history, beating the hosts and then reigning world and European champions at the Stade de France with a score of 3:2. Will Leonid Slutsky's team be able to repeat that sensational success, you will find out from full review on our portal
The French played a difficult match in Amsterdam 4 days ago, scoring the decisive goal at the very end of the game, allowing Oranje to win back 2 goals. Our team was actually the second team stronger than Lithuania 3:0. Didier Deschamps' team is traditionally one of the favorites of the European Championship, and they traditionally play very strongly at home. Goalkeepers Guilherme and Kritsyuk, as well as field players Yusupov and Maksimov, did not fly to Paris, and Denisov was taken to the hospital in France with a high temperature.
After a successful game in Amsterdam against the long-suffering Dutch national team, Didier Deschamps' team received considerable praise. The French approached the next home game against the Russian team as clear favorites. This time, the coach of the French national team allowed himself to rotate the squad, leaving in reserve the author of the winning goal against Oranje Matuidi, Koscielny and Mandanda. However, Le Blue's game, especially its debut, did not get any worse. The “tri-colors” dominated from the first minutes on the football field. But one could worry and fear about the Russian national team immediately after the announcement starting lineup for the game - the center of defense was called upon to cement the two Berezutsky brothers, and their replacements were only nominal flankers Dmitry Kombarov and Igor Smolnikov, who had absolutely no experience playing in the center of defense. And this meant that the new helmsman of the Russian national team was completely or almost completely satisfied with the current combination of central defenders, which now does not stand up to any criticism in CSKA. Something suggests that Slutsky sees the 36-year-old Ignashevich as the closest replacement for one of the brothers, and if this is not the case, then one can ask the question into the void - why are the national team given two sparring sessions, if not to try new collections in them on such a problematic and competitive position?..
Already after the eighth full revolution of the second hand, the hosts took the lead. Fairly forgotten by everyone after leaving for the Mexican championship, Andre-Pierre Gignac passed from the right flank of the attack to the center of someone else's penalty area to Griezmann, and the Atlético forward with a cool low pass brought rookie N'Golo Kante one on one with Akinfeev, who defended our goal in the first half. . N'Golo was calm and accurate in close combat, leaving a lot of questions for our defense - 1:0. And shortly before the break, the French already led by two goals. Antoine Griezmann paid tribute to the Tigres forward, crossing from the left flank of the attack into the center onto the goal line, where Gignac was more agile than the defender and sent the ball into the corner of the goal with a falling header - 2:0. Throughout the first half, the Russian national team players looked as if they had barely recovered from suspended animation after the harsh Russian climate in the favorable weather conditions of the French warmth. As such, there was no trace of a game plan performed by Leonid Viktorovich, and if there was one, it was clearly aimed at maintaining the score 0:0 in the first half of the game, and it collapsed like a house of cards immediately after the first goal conceded. The opponent, acting even at half his capabilities, skillfully restrained all attacking attempts Russian team, and personally, the Varan-Sako combination completely cut off the oxygen of Dzyuba and practically nothing was noted, except for a rude tackle at the feet of Evra, Kokorin, and the time had come for a very important break and substitutions for our team.
In the second half, Deschamps' team slowed down somewhat, allowing the Russian team to attack as well. Quite quickly, the Russian team found the strength to win back one goal from a set piece, when Kokorin, with a header from the center of someone else’s penalty area, closed in an accurate pass from Dzagoev. Unfortunately for our national team, very soon the West Ham recruit, 29-year-old Dimitri Payet, will become the most accurate shot from a free kick in his career, from 30 meters he decided to take a dribbling shot and hit the crossbar of the goal of Lodygin, who replaced Akinfeev, and restored the double advantage of the French national team - 3:1. But this was far from the end. In the 68th minute, Oleg Shatov burst into someone else's penalty area from the left flank of the attack, passed low to Zhirkov's shot, and the national team veteran sent the ball straight to the target with a touching shot from close range - 3:2! It should be noted that during the break before this disastrous segment for the French defense, Deschamps replaced Patrice Evra, who was injured after a flagrant foul by Kokorin, and already in the 54th minute, for the same reason, he was forced to change his replacement, Jeremy Mathieu, for Luc Digne, because under which the Russians' second goal was scored.
And yet the final word belonged to the owners of the Stade de France. The evil genius of the Russian national team, Dimitri Payet, passed the ball low to the right edge of someone else's penalty area, where the reactive Kingsley Coman, who came on as a substitute, masterfully dealt with Yuri Lodygin, who had screwed up on the way out, and hit the empty goal from an acute angle. 4:2 - in the second control match in a row, Le Bleu is confident in the game, but not quite confident in the score, dismantling its opponent for parts, and Kante and Payet congratulated themselves on their birthday goals scored. Now about the sad stuff. The game of the Russian national team brought to all its admirers and fans another, already philosophical, portion of thoughts and despairs concerning not only the game played as a whole, but also the questions of who should play in the center of defense at the Euro and who should be preferred as the main carrier of shells to the attackers - playing the deck through the stump to Roman Shirokov or young Miranchuk and Golovin. It’s one thing to beat such national teams as Lithuania and Liechtenstein in one breath, counting on players proven over the years, without surprising an inexperienced opponent with tactical delights, taking your toll on class, and another thing is to fight for access to the playoffs and, moreover, to move further, where there simply cannot be any passable opponents and where even Albania and Iceland will look like equal opponents. Today Russian football players did not show any counterarguments against the more organized and speedy French team.
Friendly match. French team - Russian team - 4:2 (2:0)
Goals: Kante, 8, Gignac, 38, Payet, 64, Coman, 76 - Kokorin, 56, Zhirkov, 68
France: Lloris, Sagna, Sakho, Varane (Mathieu 46, Digne 54), Evra, Kante, Lass Diarra, Pogba (Moussa Sissoko 69), Griezmann (Paillet 62), Gignac (Giroud 79), Martial ( Koman, 46).
Russia: Akinfeev (Lodygin, 46), Kuzmin, V. Berezutsky, A. Berezutsky, Zhirkov (Smolnikov, 69), Golovin (Glushakov, 80), Dzagoev, Shirokov (Mamaev, 70), Kokorin (Smolov, 80), Dzyuba , Shatov (Samedov, 88)
Warnings: Kokorin, Kuzmin, A. Berezutsky.
