Sabitov puts Russia in running
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Article summary
Russia coach Ravil Sabitov hopes to add the UEFA European Under-19 Championship to the U17 and Women's U19 crowns won by his nation in the last two years.
Article body
Until very recently, Russia had little pedigree in continental youth competitions. Then two years ago they triumphed in the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship, and repeated the feat in the men's U17 competition in 2005/06. So can Ravil Sabitov lead them to the next logical step - this year's U19 title in Austria? "We would have no objections," the coach told uefa.com with a smile.
Education
Sabitov retired from playing aged 28 in the mid-1990s, but has quite a coaching education having been in squads led by Yuri Semin, Konstantin Beskov, Oleg Dolmatov, Eduard Malafeev and Anatoli Byshovets. He has been moulding this particular Russian squad for three years, and they have been the first to reach the U19 finals since the reclassification from U18s in 2001/02.
Good omens
Omens are good too, as just like last year's U17 squad they came through their Elite round group in England - and among their opponents there were the Czech Republic, beaten on penalties in the junior final in Luxembourg 14 months ago. Not that reaching the finals was easy, as they pipped the Netherlands to Austria by just a single goal after a concluding 0-0 draw. It does not get any easier now, as waiting in Group B are France, Germany and Serbia.
Difficulties welcomed
"According to our traditions, we have to go through difficulties," Sabitov said, with an element of wry humour. "If there are no difficulties, we fail. So I thought before the draw we would get opponents like Spain, Germany and France in our group. In that case we would have a real chance of qualifying. But Serbia destroyed our plans."
Familiar opponents
In more serious tone, he added: "We're pleased with the draw because we know France very well, we know Germany very well and we dreamed of playing Serbia. I do believe that every team must be respected. We respect all our opponents, as well as hosts Austria and holders Spain. But we are not afraid of anybody and will do as well as we can."
Investment
That Russia are advancing at this level is no coincidence, Sabitov suggests. "We are progressing greatly in youth football at the moment," he said. "The infrastructure of youth football is very favourable because there has been a lot of investment and due to that we are seeing the results."