Former Dynamo Kyiv forward Oleg Salenko shared his impressions of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Oleg Salenko— What new things did you see at the 2022 World Cup?
- The results of the first round of this championship were affected by the fact that the vast majority of participants did not actually prepare for the 2022 World Cup. Preparation for the World Cup should be fundamental, long. Those teams that nevertheless managed to carry out such work successfully started, for example, Saudi Arabia. At the same time, teams such as Argentina and Germany started their way to the World Cup almost from scratch. I think they didn't have at least 20 days to recover and play.
- Did the World Cup in Qatar add something new to the tactics?
- Not yet. Saudi Arabia surprised not only with its readiness, but also with its ability to respond to a change in the situation on the field against top teams. But the VAR system struck me the most at the 2022 World Cup. I don’t understand how a hand can be offside... So many spectacular goals have already been canceled due to VAR.
- Did many surprises happen after the two rounds of the group stage of the 2022 World Cup?
Everything is more or less logical. True, Argentina and Germany were struck by far from the best result. But there is an explanation for this. The Germans and Argentines will gain momentum already during the World Cup. They didn’t have proper training camp before the start, so they build the game directly on the world championship. Germany will definitely qualify for the playoffs.
- Which of the players can already be called the opening of the World Cup?
- It's hard to name such players... But there is disappointment - it's Messi in the opening game with Saudi Arabia. He walked almost the entire match. Already in the second match, Messi scored and, I think, he will add more in the game against Poland for sure.
I don’t want to single out anyone in the Brazilian national team. There are many great players in this team for the 2022 World Cup. And from match to match they will play better and better. In fact, this is an important factor in world championships. During my playing career, Valery Lobanovsky at the 1990 World Cup decided to prepare the national team so that it would gradually get into shape - especially in the playoffs, but then it was not possible to leave the group ... At the 1986 World Cup, everything was the other way around.
- Which teams remain favorites for the 2022 World Cup?
— The same ones, nothing has changed after two rounds. I really like the Spanish team. In addition to her, the favorites are England, Germany, Portugal and France. All of them must reach the playoffs, and then how the tournament bracket will develop. However, no one can relax at this World Cup - as practice has shown, even with Saudi Arabia you can’t play half a leg ...
- That is, there is no one - the most obvious contender for the World Cup yet?
- Such a team can be named only after the 1/8 finals. By the way, at this stage of the playoffs, there may be surprises, because physics will play a significant role in the fights. Let's see... In my opinion, the German national team will be able to drastically add to the playoffs already traditionally. Other favorites so far are either saving their strength, like Portugal against Uruguay, when they scored a goal and did not really try to run forward, or are just gaining momentum.
Oleg Semenchenko
