Zvezda looking to hit the ground running
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
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Zvezda-2005 may be going into Saturday's UEFA Women's Cup first leg against FCR 2001 Duisburg in Kazan having played just one domestic game in 2009 but coach Aleksandr Grigoryan rates their chances as "50-50".
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Zvezda-2005 may be going into Saturday's UEFA Women's Cup first leg against FCR 2001 Duisburg in Kazan having played just one domestic game in 2009. But that was a 10-1 defeat of WFC Lada Tolyatti on 7 May and coach Aleksandr Grigoryan, who will leave after the two-legged encounter with Duisburg, told uefa.com that he believed the match-up between the European debutants should still be close.
uefa.com: The match against Lada was your only game since the semi-final second leg at Umeå IK on 5 April...
Aleksandr Grigoryan: Yes. This is the difference between us and Duisburg. We can say that the Russian league is a formality as we have only 12 matches in it while 25 are needed. Also our opponents are not strong enough. We have gifted players but we have to improve our league.
uefa.com: How have you been able to keep the team in condition?
Aleksandr Grigoryan: We have had long breaks in the league but players have to be at full pelt. That's why I create high-pressure situations during training twice a week. That helps to the women to work at a high rate.
uefa.com: What is the latest about the injured players Maria Dyatchkova and Nataliya Zinchenko?
Grigoryan: Dyatchova's meniscus is improving. She has already started training and hopefully will help us in the second leg in Germany. Zinchenko has a torn thigh muscle. She is outstanding, there are few such talents in Europe and she has got used to playing with injuries. Zinchenko, [Olesya] Kurochkina and [Valentina] Savchenkova are within a booking of a one-match ban. So, I do not rule out player-coach Anna Kostraba helping us again.
uefa.com: Who do you think are favourites?
Grigoryan: Duisburg have already played 20 matches in the league and have been fighting for the title with three other clubs. They beat previous UEFA Women's Cup winners 1. FFC Frankfurt away in the quarter-finals. They have a close league, everybody can take points off the favourites while we have occasional matches against weak opponents. However, I think it is 50-50. In some ways we are in a better position as we are counted as underdogs. Our opponents may relax a bit subconsciously.
