Zvezda shine on European stage
Friday, September 12, 2008
Article summary
As their name suggests, Zvezda-2005 are only three years old but last season they won a Russian double and have now made a spectacular UEFA Women's Cup debut with three wins and 17 unanswered goals.
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Spectacular debut
Zvezda, from the city of Perm, made a spectacular debut against Group A1 hosts Gintra Universitetas in Lithuania, winning 8-0 with five Olesya Kurochkina goals, and to prove it was no fluke they matched that scoreline two days later against Klaksvíkar Ítróttarfelag KÍ. They only needed a draw in their decider against 1. FC Femina of Hungary, and although Zvezda had two players sent off late on to their opponent's one, the Russian side secured victory deep in added time through Nataliya Zinchenko to book a place in second qualifying round Group B1 next month against holders 1. FFC Frankfurt, Glasgow City LFC and Røa IL of Norway.
Kurochkina feat
Kurochkina, a former defender turned striker, totalled seven goals in the mini-tournament, and reflected on her first match feat: "I have scored [as many] several times, even more than five, but a UEFA competition is different. Even so, the team comes first." Her ambition does not stop there. "We are doing our best to win the Russian league again, where we lead the [WFC] Rossiyanka by six points with five rounds to be played before the end of October. We would like to perform well in the UEFA Women's Cup, win in our group again in the next round and then challenge the best teams in Europe. We want to fly high together."
History
Women's football in Perm dates back to the 1980s but Zvezda formed with players from the city's Olympic Reserve School in 2005 and the following year became regional champions and finished second in the national first division. They earned a place in the Russian Women's Premier-Liga for 2007 and Alexander Grigoryan became coach, leading them to the domestic double at their first attempt. They lost 1-0 against Rossiyanka in the Russian Cup final in August, but that remains the only significant defeat suffered under Girgoyan's command.
Grigoryan's ambition
Grigoryan said: "We have quickly became a solid team, as my players are individually excellent, and also the team spirit is great. Team captain Nataliya Zinchenko is our best player, but we have five players playing for Russia, and five for Ukraine. We play in an attacking 4-4-2 system, but we need to play well, as we have an average of 3-4,000 people at our matches in Russia, whom we want to serve, and now we would like to come and win in Europe as well."
