I Tried to Do the Maximum I am Able to

After the UEFA EURO 2016 match Russia versus Wales the head coaches of both teams attended a press conference, as the FUR website informs.

Leonid Slutski, Russia’s head coach:

- What is the reason of failure in your opinion?

- I would like to offer my apologies to the supporters for the football we showed - including today. The people who supported us watching TV and today at the stands do not deserve the game of that level. That is why I am ready to take the blame upon myself. We had enough time for the preparation, to pick up the line-up and practice certain combinations. And if we didn’t succeed in it, it means that the coach didn’t cope with his task. I would ask to focus your attention not on individual players but on coaching shortfalls.

- Will you stay in charge of the team?

- I think that after such competition it is necessary that another person would try to prepare the team to further important and, to a large extend, landmark competitions.

- What can we expect from the Russian National team at the 2018 FIFA World Cup?

- I think that this question is not to me already. But I am sure that the players who got negative experience at this EURO will turn it into positive after some time. The previous mistakes will be taken into account and I am sure that many players who constitute the backbone of the team today will play at the home World Cup.

- If you could have turned the time back would you agree to take this post once again?

- I don’t regret of anything. We had a fine qualification. It was really hard to win four matches to get to the final stage of the EURO but we gained a lot of experience. I tried to do my utmost I was only capable of but, unfortunately, this was not enough.