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Pre-season update

publisher — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 10:24:44 +0000

Returned from Belek, Turkey where we trained twice a day for 3 weeks. Made good progress in team building, defensive tactics and general fitness. Between sessions, team meetings, individual meetings, videos, had no time to post any updates (sorry to all who wrote to me asking for updates).
Saw Russia U-19s tie 0-0 and lose 0-1 to Turkey. Our match aganst Russia U-19 was canceled because of storms. Played Luwin from Switzerland. Good goals scored by Kurochkina (she just can’t stop scoring) and Apanashenko.
Ksenia Tsybutovich and Masha Dyachkova are like sponges and improving tactically every day. Truntaeva is a warrior, working hard despite cuts, pulls and bruises. Nadia Baranova finally joined us after a surgery and rehab in Germany. She looks fit and her rehab seems ahead of schedule.
Our last night in Belek was marked by a major dance production, directed and choreographed by Kurochkina. She can also dance! I am debating whether to post a 15 minute video of the event.
Wednesday we leave for Kislovodsk, located between the Black and Caspian seas, for high altitude training. Back to Turkey for 2 weeks and hopefully 4 matches in March.
Fatima Leyva and Jessica O’Rourke signed 2 year contracts with Zvezda and moved into their apartment yesterday. Still awaiting arrival of Chiejine and Busi.
We are still 2-3 players away from being a major force in Europe.

UEFA Women’s Champions League

admin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:58:56 +0000

Well, we went out of the UEFA Women’s Champions League on the away goals rule after 0:0 in Oslo and 1:1 in Russia.
We played poorly in Oslo but still could have snatched a 1:0 win but for Roa’s goalkeeper Caroline Knutsen who made 4 key saves in both legs. In the return leg we went down 1:0 in the second minute on Guro Knutsen’s 2nd minute goal but recovered well, took the game to Roa, tied it 1:1 on Natalia Barbashina’s excellent goal, and hit the post and a crossbar. But it was not to be.
No complaints from me, my players did what I asked of them, and Roa were compact, disciplined and defended with 10 players to make it difficult on us.
Had a chance to speak with Becca Sauerbrunn who played left back for Roa, she did well in both games. I like her as a player.
Now, I will need to improve Zvezda in 5 positions and am confident we will progress further next year.
We will begin our pre-season on January 18 in Antalya, Turkey. I expect to bring in about 25 players to look at. From Turkey we will go to Kislovodsk, located in the North Caucasian region of Russia, between the Black and Caspian seas for high altitude training. After that we will return to Turkey for final preparation and friendly matches.

Special SPASIBO! to Zvezda fans. They were fantastic as you can see here:

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I really like Russia!

admin — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:05:39 +0000

I really like Russia!
Kaloyan and I arrived in Moscow last Sunday and went straight away to watch Russia vs. Ireland (3:0).
Russia have some very good young players and are in a position to make vast improvements in the next 3 years.
It would not surprise me if Russia becomes a top 5 team in the world soon and stay there for a long time.
The resources are here. The Russian FA is investing in womens’ football infrastructure, and the standard of women’s football league is high.
My team Zvezda-2005 is located in Perm, which is located about 1,000 km east of Moscow. Weather is cold, and we had about an inch of snow in Perm, but our stadium has a heated artificial surface so training is no problem.

On Thursday, my team Zvezda-2005 played against Ryazan-VDV and won 3:2, but we made it difficult on ourselves.

Zvezda and Russia defender Ksenia Tsybutovich

Went down 2:0 inside the 10 minutes but really got hold of the game after the first 15 and were in control from then on.
My Russia WNT striker Kurochkina scored two well-taken goals, and Russia WNT defender Tsybutovitch added a PK to give us the win.

After the game I met with Zvezda’s Fan Club members who presented me with a large banner. The fans are fantastic, very passionate and dedicated to the club. Last night I even saw them at our reserve team’s game.
I very much enjoy coaching in a different football and cultural environment, and this represents an opportunity for growth.
Tuesday we leave for Oslo, Norway where we will play on Wednesday afternoon against Norwegian champions Røa. They will be a difficult challenge as they have 6-7 very experienced players. I am looking forward to getting my first taste of the UEFA Women’s Champions League football.
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If you have a question for Shek, you can submit it through Twitter at http://twitter.com/ShekBorkowski