Beating both Russia and Portugal in the same group is something not to be forgotten

This is your chance to get to know Ihar Bryshtel, our Belarusian ambassador, a little better

This week’s featured Beach Soccer Worldwide ambassador is the star of the Belarussian selection, Ihar Bryshtel.

He was born on July 13th 1987 in the village of Orekhovsky in the Brest region of Belarus. 

Bryshtel shared a little information about his family life back home. “I have a little brother and elder sister. My mother is an accountant and my father is an engineer.” 

Now the striker has a family of his own; his wife, Victoria, who is a doctor and his young son, Gleb. 

On top of being a husband and a father, Ihar Bryshtel is so much more than just a beach soccer player… 

“I graduated from university with a degree in tourism management and now I work as an athlete-instructor…but naturally in my spare time I’m a footballer.” 

So how did beach soccer come into his life?

“In 2009, I was invited to play in the Belarussian Beach Soccer Cup for FC Polesie (the team from my city) and we won the cup that year!” 

“In the same year, I was called up to the national team and my first tour was to France and we won the Euro Beach Soccer League Division B group.”

Ten years later the Belarus captain is still going strong and performing at the highest level. 

“I feel that I have found my passion in beach soccer. I just believed in the sport and it paid off. I am proud to be a part of it.” 

In such a long career it must be hard to pick out the most defining moment, but here are just some of the ones that the forward picked out for us: 

“One of my proudest moments is winning the EBSL stage is Siofok. Also, beating both Russia and Portugal in the same group is something not to be forgotten.”

With ten years of beach soccer under his belt, Ihar Bryshtel shows no signs of slowing down yet, and with such a busy summer coming up we’re all excited to see where he can lead Belarus in 2019. 

Honours:

– Best Belarussian player (7)

– MVP (3) Russian, Turkish and Polish leagues 

– Top scorer (6) Euro Beach Soccer League Stage, Euro Winners Cup and Russian, Turkish, Polish and Ukrainian leagues