Anokhin: “We are happy to be at Strogino, cradle of beach soccer in Russia. Thank you BSWW for your support and confidence”
The Euro Beach Soccer League Moscow 2016 was officially kicked off today, with the press conference held at the media room of the Beach Soccer stadium at Strogino.
The President of the Moscow Football Federation, Sergey Anokhin, the deputy vicepresident of Beach Soccer Worldwide, Gabino Renales, the coach of the Russian National team, Mikhail Likhachev and the captains of both the hosts and the Belarus National Team, Ilya Leonov and Ihar Bryshtel attended the press conference.
Sergei Anokhin officially opened the conference, thanking Beach Soccer Worldwide for their confidence and explaining the reasons of this new venue in the Russian capital: “I am very happy to see this Euro Beach Soccer League event taking place in Strogino. This is where beach soccer was born in Russia, and we want this área to become the center of beach soccer in the country”.
Besides announcing the future construction of a permanent indoor facility, Anokhin also wanted to “thank the Russian Football Association, and the Ministry of Sports for their support, as well as Beach Soccer Worldwide, for their full confidence in hosting the event here”.
In this same sense, Gabino Renales, deputy vice-president of Beach Soccer Worldwide, highlighted that “we are very excited with this new venue. It is a pleasure for us to be here, again in Moscow, again in Russia, where things are so professionally done. I am sure that with this structure, the effort put in place by Mr. Anokhin and the whole Russian Football Association, Russia, and their National team, will be for many years at the top of the beach soccer world”.
Mikhail Likhachev, Russia’s Head coach, talked about the quality of the event, highlighting that “spectators will have the chance to see the best teams in Europe. They will be treated with the best beach soccer in the continent, and I really hope they come and support. I would like to see the stadium full, cheering not only for Russia, but enjoying the great game on display”.
The team’s captain, Ilya Leonov, admitted that “for us, playing here in Russia means extra pressure, because we want to give our people our best version”, before assuring that “we will try to get as much points as possible here”.
Similarly, Ihar Bryshtel, Belarus captain, said that “we have very difficult opponents, but we will try our best.” Moreover, he also explained the great feeling of playing in Moscow. “It is very special for us to play in Moscow, as we had one very historical match here down in 2014, when we beat Russia. Beating Russia at their own soil has only happened twice on the Euro Beach Soccer League, and we managed to do it!”
The teams are ready then to kick-star the action in Strogino (Moscow). The schedule for tomorrow is as follows.
Friday 01.07.16
13.00 – Moldova v Kazakhstan (Div B, Group 1)
14.15 – Serbia vs Estonia (Div B, Group 1)
15.30 – Italy v Belarus (Div A, Group 2)
16.45 – Switzerland v France (Div A, Group 1)
18.00 – Greece v Spain (Div A, Group 2)
19.15 – Poland v Russia (Div A, Group 1)
Remember, all matches LIVE on beachsoccer.com
