Grodno Neman faces Bremerhaven
In the second round of the decisive stage of the Continental Cup, the champions of Belarus needed to defeat the hosts of the tournament — Bremerhaven. Vasily Spiridonov’s players came prepared for the attack, so that their superiority was never in question. By the end of the first half, they had already scored twice, taking this to a victory of 6:2 by the final whistle. Afterwards, coach Spiridonov noted that his squad had played their best as a true team, fulfilling all his aims.
In the first match of the super-final, Neman also confidently defeated French club Angers — 5:0. The final match against Kazakhstan’s Yertis Pavlodar was thereby ‘unnecessary’ from the point of view of winning.
The Grodno squad has played in the Continental Cup five times, but has never made it to the semi-finals. The tournament has been held since the 1997/1998 season: Yunost Minsk has won twice (2007 and 2011), as well as taking second place twice (2010 and 2012); Gomel claimed second place in 2004, as did Zhlobin’s Metallurg in 2013.
By Igor Grishin
