Yesterday’s match between FC “Sheriff” and “Rapid”, Bucharest, was the first one of the four friendly games in Cyprus that had been planned by our coaching staff at the head of Leonid Kuchuk. Our supporters and visitors of the site could learn about the course of the match in the on-line mode. But we would mention some moments.

 

During the first 70 minutes of the game our team was highly competitive with more famous opponents. Moreover, the first half of the time was ours. The goal conceded at the beginning of the match was no more than an episode. It happened after the ball was swept away by goalkeeper Melenciuc who played without serious mistakes later on. Anything is possible in football. There were many combination moves of Leonid Kuchuk’s players on the other half of the field. It was a long period in the middle of the first half when they were in possession of the ball. Probably, that caused nervousness of the opponents which became apparent towards the end of the first half and finished in the small scuffle between Pancu and Wallace. Pancu committed a foul attacking our defender from behind and then started to sort out their relationships. It didn’t end in a fight, Thiago took the Romanian midfielder away from Wallace who didn’t insist on continuation of that situation. To get out of harm's way, the Cyprian referee sent both players off the field. And they reached the substitutes’ bench already as friends. This is football which is impossible without emotions.                     

 

The first half with no scored goals motivated “Sheriff” much more. And the goal came but, unfortunately, only one. Why didn’t they score in the first half of the time? The main explanation was the following: against the background of load, concentration was disappearing in a convenient moment. The mistake of Melenciuc could be explained by that. On the other hand, goal-scoring opportunities created, for example, by Thiago had to be realized. And there is a third reason as well – matches against such opponents make you play at the breaking point, and not always you have a second that is given by defenders in National Division matches.        

 

The second half proved that “Sheriff” is the team of strong character. The goal scored by Arbanas was perfect (the Romanian press is still complimenting both Arbanas and the whole team), some dangerous moments were created in addition to those in the first half. But the main thing was that our team withstood in the moment when it was really hard – during the last 20 minutes of the match. The team spent its forces but it had to endure, to play its own game. And our players managed to do all that. The opponents could carry out only a few long-range shots.           

 

That’s how it was. It’s quite good for the first match.