On Tuesday, 6 September, National Team of Russia is going to play against Ghana at Lokomotiv Stadium. It will be the first match between Russia and Ghana at the level of A national teams.

Ghana citizens call their team Black Stars. Ghana is considered to be one of the  strongest teams of Africa. The team of Ghana reached quarterfinal of FIFA World Cup 2010 (the best achievement of African teams), and at FIFA World Cup 2014 Ghana was not able to qualify from its group (the group also included teams of Germany, Portugal and USA). At African Nations Cup 2015 Ghana under the guidance of famous Israeli coach Avraham Grant  reached the final and lost to Ivorians in the penalty shoot-out.

For our team it will be the second match under the guidance of Stanislav Cherchesov. The first match against Turkey was played in a draw 0:0 on 31 August 2016 in Antalya.

Stanislav Cherchesov, National Team of Russia Head Coach:

– Why have you decided to use three central defenders for the match?
– As we took this and other decisions, we were guided by the fact that we did not have a sufficient number of workouts. So we decided to use the block principle. We also have central defenders Semenov and Kutepov and that they were not on the field today does not mean they are not good enough. But our decision was to focus on teamwork and chemistry under the present circumstances. So Novoseltsev and Kudryashov of Rostov played in a common scheme with three central defenders and Berezutsky was positioned between them and played the role of Cesar Navar, so to say. Zenit players Zhirkov and Shatov were placed on the left wing and Lokomotiv players Tarasov, Miranchuk and Samedov played in the midfield.

– Are there any improvements in the team compared to the Euro championship?
– I would rather keep from any comparisons. The past remains in the past. We are starting on a new path. The team was giving what it has got and you could all see that. We lacked the killer’s instinct a little. We had a sufficient number of approaches but those should have better ended with shots on target. You don’t have five or ten scoring opportunities at a level like this and you should exploit any opportunities you have. We could have done better about that.

– It looked that the team relied on more “vertical” play than before. Is it really so?
– You cannot play across the pitch in contemporary football. You need to switch from defensive into offensive as quickly as possible and increase playing intensity. And we made a small step in that direction tonight.

– Will Alan Dzagoev be able to play against Ghana?
– Dzagoev is with us, he is training and took part in ball exercised today. We are getting him ready to the match against Ghana.

– Out of two players from the additional squad – Kutepov and Yemelyanov, the former was added into the players list for the match. Does this mean that Ilya can be considered the main squad player?
– As Dzagoev could not fully attend the training process, we have added Kutepov and he performed at a fine level at several workouts. And we try to assess all players unbiasedly.

– Are you happy about players that you have at your disposal?
– We always tend to have a pessimistic approach. But you know my slogan that my players are the best in the world for me. We will try to grow further. And we have already made our first step. Although, I am not very happy, of course, that we did not win tonight.