Elite round of European Futsal Championship 2014 took place in Rotterdam on March 27-30. In the sixth qualifying group the Georgian team lost to the Czech (1:4) and the Dutch (3:7) teams. In the last match the Georgians beat Belarus 5:4. Finally, they took the third place in the group. Winner Czech team went through the final stage. The second-placed Holland got in playoff. Our futsal team could not make through to the next round but they advanced on the ranking. Avtandil Asatiani, head coach of the Georgian team, held a press conference with players Murtaz Kakabadze and Davit Bobokhidze at the media center of Mikheil Meskhi stadium on Wednesday.
Avtandil Asatiani: “At first I want to evaluate the work of 7 months. It is the period when a new team was formed. We held 12 matches (5 officials: +2, -2, =1). We won and lost 5 matches and played 2 draws. We moved from the lower division. It is a merit of the football players. Before that, we missed two qualifying circles. Now it is good that we played in elite round. We were in the tough group but our goal was to go through the next round. Unfortunately, we lost the first two matches where the boys saw their mistakes. Psychological factor played its role. We lacked experience for such tournament but the boys saw they can play against any team. In the end we beat Belarus. 7 months ago, our team was in the 64th place on the ranking. On April 1 we advanced with 13 places.
Our team kicked 201 times in three matches. I distinguish victory over Belarus. We did not have motivation but beat Belarus which is in the 16th place on the ranking.
Now the most important thing: we will not hold official match for a year. We ask everybody to help us in holding meetings and friendly matches. Otherwise, this 7-month work will be wasted. Let them make such conditions that football players think only about football. If it happens, believe me, we will play at European or World Championships. The government must also pay attention to this sport. We cannot do anything alone”.
Murtaz Kakabadze mentioned that the match against the Czech team was the toughest. Davit Bobokhidze stated not to forget that the opponents have great advantage regarding finances and preparation.
Photo by Khatia Jijeishvili
Solomon Gulisashvili
