Gone from the pharaohs: the Russian national team switches from Egypt to Burkina Faso

After the failure in the friendly match with Egypt, the Russian national team continues its summer training camp and is preparing for a new test. On June 5, Valery Karpin's team will play in Volgograd against Burkina Faso, a rival that has improved significantly in recent years and has several players from leading European championships. The African team is ranked 62nd in the FIFA rankings, regularly participates in major international tournaments and is able to cause problems for even higher-status teams. For the Russians, the upcoming meeting will be an opportunity not only to rehabilitate themselves after the defeat in Cairo, but also to assess their readiness against another serious opponent.

Motivation

On June 2, the Russian national team held an open training session. Goalkeeper Stanislav Agkatsev, defenders Igor Diveev and Daniil Denisov, as well as midfielder Artem Karpukas did not participate in the lesson. Dmitry Vorobyov, who was unable to take part in the training camp for medical reasons, was replaced by Ivan Sergeev. At the same time, forward Konstantin Tyukavin, who missed the match against Egypt due to knee pain, worked with the team.

Recall that in Cairo, the Russian national team lost to the hosts with a minimum score. The only goal was scored in the second half.

—Egypt is far from the weakest national team," Tyukavin emphasized. — You have seen for yourself how they work with the ball. At some points, we could have played differently. Now we are preparing for Burkina Faso. We watched clips from their games. A good, technical team. Your health? Better. Everything is fine. I managed to rest and recover. I'm preparing for the next matches along with everyone else, and then everything depends on the decision of the head coach.

Spartak midfielder Nail Umyarov noted the importance of international sparring during his suspension.

— There is motivation in the national team, — Nail Umyarov said. — It's clear that we want to play in official matches. But how many times have we already said this "if"? Losing to Egypt is not a matter of motivation. One of the strongest rivals in recent years, who is preparing for the World Cup. It's a matter of some details that decided the outcome. We play with each other all the time in the RPL. But we have to get used to the fact that the opponent is different from us. It's not that we're lagging behind. It's a matter of habit. I think we're missing a little bit because of the suspension. Because we don't have such rivals and speeds. Our next opponent is also a good test of readiness.

Southern appearance: the Russian national team has decided on the opponents for May and June

For the first time since last year, our team will play away.

Two expensive football players

Burkina Faso is not such a strong opponent as Egypt, but you can't call this team whipping boys either. At the recent Africa Cup of Nations, the team was able to get out of the group, beating Equatorial Guinea and Sudan. In the first round of the playoffs, the team lost to Côte d'Ivoire. The team was able to overcome the group round of the continental tournament for the second time in a row, which is the best result in their history. The team's leaders, forward Dango Ouattara and defender Arsene Kouassi, compete in the championships of England and France, respectively. Transfermarkt estimates Ouattara at €35 million, Kouassi at €15 million. The most expensive Russian football player, Matvey Safonov, is estimated at €30 million, but the PSG goalkeeper skips this training camp. Alexey Batrakov is one of the field players (€28 million). The Burkina Faso national team is coached by Frenchman Amir Abdou. Previously, the 53-year-old specialist headed the Moroccan Hassaniya club and the Mauritanian national team.

"The Egyptians have a good national team, very organized,— said Zenit goalkeeper Denis Adamov. — We had a good sparring session to see how ready we were. It was good at times, but it didn't work out at times. There is something to work on. Now we have to play well against Burkina Faso. We understand their strengths and weaknesses. You have to win in front of your fans.

In the upcoming match, 18-year-old Amir Ibragimov, who plays for the Manchester United youth team, may enter the field. Amir moved to England in 2019. He worked his way through the Sheffield United academy to Manchester, where he was captain of the youth teams.

"Ibragimov?" It is clear that a technically equipped player can take over the game," Nail Umyarov continued. — It will be interesting to see him in the official games. We had a little chat with him about Manchester.

It should be noted that the plane carrying the players of the Burkina Faso national team landed at Volgograd airport on Friday, May 29. The national team was greeted with songs and dances by the ensemble of the Russian Cossacks. The players and coaching staff were also presented with a traditional Russian loaf.

32,000 tickets have already been sold for the upcoming match. It should be noted that the Volgograd Arena holds 45 thousand spectators. The Russian national anthem before the match with Burkina Faso in honor of Children's Day will be performed by the consolidated children's choir of the city.

The summer training camp will end for our team on June 9 with a game against Trinidad and Tobago in Kaliningrad.