Almost like in life: Rubin finishes last in Kazan Mayor Cup, while Valencia wins the competition

09:00, 04.04.2017

The first Kazan Mayor Cup where the best cyber football players of Russia and representatives of such famous European clubs as Roma, Manchester City, Valencia and Ajax took place in Pyramid Culture and Leisure Complex of Kazan on 2 April. Rubin kept them company. Realnoe Vremya tells all details of the cyber football battle.

Virtual Rubin is even worse than real

Eight teams making up two groups participated in Kazan Mayor Cup. Invited European teams – David Soriano's Spanish Valencia, Coen Wayland's Dutch Ajax, Kieran Brown's English Manchester City and Sam Carmody's Italian Roma – played against each other in the first group. A Russian fight took place in the other group between the best three players of the Russian Cyber Football Championship, which was in Kazan recently, Andrey Guriev from CSKA, Robert Fakhretdinov from Ufa, Kirill Ordinartsev from Orenburg and representative of Rubin-Kazan Anton Zhukov. Unlike the Russian championship, the competition rules have changed. The group winners will play against each other in final, runners-up will fight for a bronze and players who finished third will play for 5 ^th and 6^th places. Consequently, the last teams defined the ''weakest chain''.

The greatest attention was paid to Rubin-Kazan, of course, — Zhukov probably wanted to make up for the previous Russian Championship – where he did not manage to win the group stage. Moreover, the Kazan club representative lost all matches of this competition having occupied, as a result, 8^th position, so he is in the top 8, like people like to say in cyber football. At the same time, we can't say the cup started too bad because in the even game Rubin lost to Orenburg 1-2 in the last minutes. Later he also missed a draw in the match against reigning Russian champion Andrey Guriev from CSKA and also lost 1-2. Zhukov was defeated by Fakhretdinov's Ufa 2-7. In the match for 7^th position, Rubin lost with his favourite score 1-2 and finished last at home. It seemed it is difficult to play worse than real Rubin, it turned out it is possible.

Eight teams making up two groups participated in Kazan Mayor Cup

''He is very good at ball possession, it is difficult to oppose him. It is necessary to constantly wait for a moment to steal the ball. In addition, Robert waits for an opportunity to create a dangerous moment. I stole the ball and almost immediately gave it to him. The player of Roma did not prepare well. But he prefers the Ultimate Team regime. This tournament was also tough for him,'' Zhukov shared his impressions of participation.

Close fight to be first in Russian group

If the worst team of the group became known easily, other players scored 6 points each – a complete equality! When was the last time when you saw it? It turned out according to additional results Kirill Ordinartsev's Orenburg went to play against Manchester United for the fifth position where he was defeated by his opponent 1-2. I imagine how he was hurt – he should not have lost the decisive group stage game to CSKA 0-5. But the champion was irrepressible in that game. At the same time, Ufa walloped Rubin guaranteeing the ball difference equal to that of the CSKA player.

Fakhretdinov with his Ufa was in the Kazan Mayor Cup final only due to additional results

Consequently, Fakhretdinov with his Ufa was in the Kazan Mayor Cup final only due to additional results, while Guriev from CSKA had to be glad about the third-place match. Valencia and Ajax became their rivals in the decisive matches respectively. Although everything became clear in the European group in the last round, Soriano confidently controlled the course of the battle and did not question his class and guaranteed himself at least the second place. The Dutch club player was hurt but had to resign himself to the deserved defeat.

If before the tournament many people bet on the final game of TIMON with CSKA, dramatism of virtual football was not worse than a real one. CSKA had to fight for the third place only, but it is still prestige, one can show off. Considering that the competition was transmitted not only in Russia but in other countries, it was not just a prestigious game.

The third-place match as well as other play-off matches except the final took place in the format of one game with added time and penalty shootout if needed. It is a classic of the genre, in general. TIMOV took the lead at the beginning of the match and dominated until he scored a deserved goal in the 15 ^th cyber minute. The CSKA player had scoring chances further on but looking at his goal to not to lose a dangerous counter-attack. In the end, Ajax had a small advantage. Dutch Wayland missed the second goal, though his goal could have received far more. CSKA was third in Kazan Mayor Cup.

Ufa's third final and third defeat

Then the key matches of the competition took place where the Ufa and Valencia representatives decided who was the strongest player. Where else could these two team play in the cup final? Only in cyber football, this is why it is awesome. The first final match ended with the Russian cyber football player's win 2-1. The game was close, the scale pan could swing in a different direction. As a result, the Russian player was luckier. Ufa dominated in the next game. Fakhretdinov created a great deal of scoring chances but could not make them real. The attack continued, but Soriano's Valencia started to counter-attack more often in the second half of the match. In the end, the Spaniard scored two goals.

It became known Andrey Guriev from CSKA, Robert Fakhretdinov from Ufa and Kirill Ordinartsev were the strongest cyber football players of two competitions held in Kazan at the weekend

''Ufa had chances in the first half, but they were not used. If you don't score, others do it, then a two-sided game starts. Robert changed his tactics in the second half and showed himself off. All the players attacked, and Soriano's Valencia scored two goals with counter-attacks. Now the Spaniard has the psychological advantage,'' famous Russian FIFA player Sergey KEFIR Nikiforov commented the result of the second match.

The final ended with one decisive match where the Valencia representative was better. The drama and intensity of the match were crazy: Ufa managed to open the score and took the lead. However, it missed a goal in the 88 ^th minute and started to massively attack in added time where Valencia managed to score twice and become the winner of the first Kazan Mayor Cyber Football Cup.

After victory, Soriano said he liked the final very much. He trained a lot and prepared for the competition. He was supported even more than in Spain. According to him, Russian cyber football players are great, they are very strong.

It became known Andrey Guriev from CSKA, Robert Fakhretdinov from Ufa and Kirill Ordinartsev were the strongest cyber football players of two competitions held in Kazan on the weekend. By the way, UFENOK77 lost his third final in a row. Earlier he was the runner-up of the Russian Cyber Football Premier League Cup, then took a silver medal of the Russian Championship and finished second in Mayor Cup. This resembles German Bayern of the early noughties, but it is another story.