Belarus won 2:0 against Luxembourg in the 2016 European Championship qualifying round match hosted by Borisov-Arena

Doing well in the home match

Belarus won 2:0 against Luxembourg in the 2016 European Championship qualifying round match hosted by Borisov-Arena


Result has been reached, yet questions remain
Photo: REUTERS


After a recent defeat in Lvov against Ukraine (1:3), Belarusians aimed to beat Luxembourg. Compared to the previous match, the line-up was changed by the head coach Alexander Khatskevich. Six new footballers joined the others on the field: Zhevnov, Bordachev, Nekhaichik, Bressan, Dragun and Gordeichuk.

At the start of the match, the new team failed to establish itself and made some simple mistakes. However, after ten minutes on the field, the Belarusians began to show some well thought out play, helped greatly by Alexander Hleb’s performance. His partners — Renan Bressan, Maxim Bordachev and Sergey Kornilenko — also played well.

Sadly, their numerous attacks failed to bring any success until the 34th minute: a quick combination with the participation of Bordachev, Bressan and Kornilenko was accurately completed by Mikhail Gordeichuk — 1:0. In turn, the guests’ play before the break was slow, creating no threat for Yuri Zhevnov in goal.

In the second half, the Luxembourg team made two changes and headed to recover their loss but to no effect. The Belarusians began defending their goals strongly, relying on their rivals’ mistakes. One of them was eventually used in the 62nd minute: Sergey Kislyak (substituting Hleb) brought Gordeichuk to the shooting position and the latter scored — setting the final result at 2:0.

After the match, Mr. Khatskevich commented that, after their loss in Lvov, the team has achieved an important positive result. The Belarusians performed well in defence, though there were several technical mistakes when attacking. Many attacks were hampered by excessive passes, when a shot at goal was needed, or sluggishness. In a month, the Belarusian footballers will play an away match against Slovakia, trying to build on their success and earn points.

By Igor Grishin
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