ZHurnal-Dinamo.----1-7

For that photo shooting the Dinamo Minsk and the national team Belarus
forward Andrey Stas puts on with pleasure the captain uniform of the
40s and looks respectfully the car, which was produced and called in the
honour of the historical victory. His wife Valeria Kurilskaya? which is a great
gymnast and model, was likely born to advertise that shining vehicle on the
post-war cards.
Lera’s smile almost always contrasts with the captain’s face. He must have
many injuries and hospitals behind him. Andrey doesn’t need to play
because his knee still hurts, and all he is thinking about is the quickest
healing possible. There a so few days to the battles of May left…
he World Championship in Minsk is a great
Tevent. I am sure that many foreign tourists will
come here and will like our country. As for our team,
I think the Dinamo players will have an advantage
playing at the Minsk-Arena. But I am sure that the
others will quickly adapt to the local conditions, and
our fans will give us even more motivation.
— This year the team Belarus didn’t make it
to the Olympic games where almost all our
future rivals were playing. That is why they are
unlikely to bring in Minsk the strongest rosters.
— That would be another advantage. Of course,
it is sad that our team wasn’t there, but we can
use that experience in the future. We won’t be
exhausted after such a hard turnament.
The fact that the other teams are coming without
the top players does not upset us either. It is clear
that everybody will fight all the forces. But we are
ready for that challenge.
— Do you agree that the head coach of the
Belarusians is the main joker of the team?
— Absolutely. We have a great coach who knows
all about hockey. He keeps us toned during all the
tournament and always can find the right words.
Although we hardly need to get more inspiration
as we are going to play at home.
— But it is important to note that the supporters
are not quite optimistic. The last results of
Dinamo and of the national team were not good
enough. Will that be an additional challenge?
— Yes, there are a lot of critics here. Honestly, we
want to do something to clam them down. Now
we have a great opportunity, which we can’t miss.
It is all in our hands.
— I was always interested in this subject. I have
watched many films about war, especially the
documentary ones, which show as it was by
numbers and facts. Although the Shtrafbat
series impressed me, too. I think that is a quite
true story, which proves that only the extreme
conditions make people show what they really are.
— Can you imagine yourself at that time? You
would have to show yourself, too…
— There would be nothing to do, I would fight for my
homeland with a gun in my hands. My grandfather
was a tank crew member in the war and finished it
in Berlin. My grandmother was a partisan. Do you
know what is interesting? She loved to tell me about
it, but he didn’t. He even did not want to celebrate
the Day of the Victory. It probably reminded him the
time that he wish he could forget.
I understand him, because the war is not only a flag
on the top of the Reichstag or a parade on the Red
Square. It is also blood, people killed, fear and terror.
It is the worst thing that could ever happen. That is
why I agree with our old people that usually say If
only no war happened. They know what they say.
You can see it when your compatriots make you
feel proud of them. I remember that in 2005 at the
camp in the Staiki (I practiced with a Junost youth
team then) we were visited by Yulia Nesterenko,
and everyone took a photo with her. That what
she did in Athens was fantastic, she won the 100
metres sprint… I don’t even know what it can be
compared with.
— Isn’t it annoying to realize that the national
hockey team can hardly ever repeat the great
deed of their single mates and make it to the
first place or even to the podest?
— You are right, for all the history of game
sports in our country only our female basketball
team could win bronze medal at the European
Championship because they had a real Belarusian
Dream Team there. That is the reason why it is
more difficult for team players. Two or three stars
are not enough, the rest of the team must also
have skills of the international level.
But of course there are moments when logic
is powerless, and a team that nobody believed
in and which was not considered as a favourite
suddenly starts playing as good as nobody
expected them to play.
Just a life observation…
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