Phoenix in its own way – with a good play and handsome goals – meant to wish a happy birthday to Oleksandr Horiainov, one of Benfiсa coaches. There is neither irony nor hidden intentions, the reason is on the surface – to many boys Horiainov is an idol and for his farewell match the full team, but several players, was present. Apart from that it was the present coach of the ‘eagles’ who provided commentary for the final match of the Lanevskyy Memorial Futsal Cup that brought a first serious trophy to our team in June 2017!
Horiainov would prefer a different sort of gift from his elders, not worse than the one Benfiсa younger team presented him with, having beaten Master of Ball in a strenuous game. The players born in 2006, though, had to face the game with the opposition whose potential was obviously different. The fourteen violets were countered by only seven players in red jerseys. That was why physically Benfiсa only lasted through the first half.
In no time Phoenix started to lead. The second four player squad implemented an excellent combination and Daniil Dudin turned home Nikita Bodnar’s assist. The score doubled in less than a minute: Mykhailo Soldatenko handled the Benfiсa defender brilliantly in the penalty area and gave an excellent pass to Danylo Boldyzhev.
Having scored once, Phoenix brought down the tension in the game and the coaches started shuffling the composition of the four player squads. Benfiсa players, who, by the way, attacked whenever a good chance occurred, created several dangerous moments at our goal, which Eldar Bratchuk defended on the level today. In minute 10, though, even he turned out powerless, when Andrii Klimovych was alone near our goal. Klimovych, by the way, had already hit the back of our net in the January match of Kharkiv Open Futsal Championship, when Benfika played with Phoenix-2.
The missed ball brought back the intrigue – for a short while – in three minutes, however, Serhii Hrytsenko and Yurii Vashchenko’s players restored the status quo with Ivan Konkov’s efforts, and Danylo Khodatskyi managed to bring Phoenix’s lead up to three points.
The second half passed in the same manner – Phoenix was attacking and Benfica was looking for opportunities to counter. It should be noted that the ‘eagles’ were rather accurate with their shots only two out of twelve missing the target.
It took our team twelve minutes to score four more goals. Then the coaches switched to the five-a-side style, which the team seemed to have forgotten. Numerous mistakes and inaccurate passes in simple situations, no moving forward, no scoring chances – all this looked untypical, in view of the fact that this component of the game has always been considered one of the team's strengths.
Phoenix did not succeed in the implementation of the standards either. That means there are things for Serhii Hrytsenko and Yurii Vashchenko to deal with.
Nonetheless, the team has earned six points over two matches and remains first in the standings of the Summer Futsal Cup held in Horkii Park.