Former Kazan Ruby Assistant: The head coach believes that we can defeat Barcelona, ​​he is the key to success

August 25th News Recently, former Kazan Ruby assistant coach Kafanov was interviewed by "", recalling how then coach Berdiev led the team to defeat Barcelona in the 2009 Champions League.

At the end of the decade in the early 21st century, Turkmenistan coach Berdiev used his super defensive tactics to build Kazan Ruby into a force that cannot be ignored in Russian football. The team perfectly interpreted the so-called "stone football" and made almost no mistakes. Central defender Cesar Navas played a key role as the core of the defense.

The team ranked only tenth in the season in 2007, but won their first Russian Super League title in 2008 and finished second in the Cup of the same year. Kazan Ruby won the championship again in 2009 and won the Cup in 2011 by defeating Dynamo Moscow 1-0.

The key to this insurmountable machine coached by Berdiev is: solid defense, efficient ball control and an ideal player who can complete tasks well in every position. In addition to Navas, there are Ecuadorian midfielder Noboya, Turkey's midfielder Karadniz, Argentine full-back Ansaldi, Russian central defender Sharonov, offensive midfielder Shemak (current head coach of Zenit), Russian wingers Riyazantesv and Kasayev and Alejandro Dominguez.

Another key player is goalkeeper Rizkov, who was turned away by the national team when he was close to 30 (Akinfeyev still played for CSKA when he was 41 and defeated Spain in the 2018 World Cup quarterfinal penalty shootout). In the summer of 2009, Kazan Ruby made its debut in the Champions League and was in the same group as Barcelona coached by Guardiola.

The then assistant coach Kafanov recalled: "Before the game against Camp Nou, Rizhkov told me, I imagine they would score seven goals. You know? It all started before the draw. Everyone was saying, don't draw Barcelona. And Berdiev repeatedly said, I hope we can draw Barcelona. Someone said to him, are you crazy? He replied, I want to see for myself how strong they are, and I want to compete with them."

"The game was on October 20 (2009). We were one point ahead in the league, and there were six rounds left before the end of the season. Berdiev told everyone that until Sunday, I don't want to hear anything about Barcelona, ​​and Barcelona doesn't exist."

"The next day he called us for a meeting and started giving We play psychological warfare: We have three days, you have to understand what we are going to face. We will be defending the whole game. When we get the ball, it will be snatched in five seconds, and we must re-defense. You must be ready to run the ball for 90 minutes. We prepared for the confrontation, top and interception training, and did a lot of work. "

" At night, he let us sit down and watch the video of the 5-0 victory over Real Madrid. He emphasized every detail many times and repeated some key moves. The coach was the key to the team's success, and there were no other factors."

Finally arrived at the night of Camp Nou, and two minutes into the game, Riyazantev scored a goal from outside the penalty area. At the end of the first half, facing nearly 56,000 spectators, Barcelona continued to siege. Kafanov recalled: "Rizhkov told me during the break that I was very tired. These people let the ball fly around. I don't know if I can stay focused in the second half."

Ibrahimovic equalized the score in the 48th minute, and Gokdenitz scored the winning goal in the 73rd minute. Kazan Ruby won the Camp Nou, while Guardiola's Barcelona failed to win in the cold away game (0-0).