Orchestra musician of the Bolshoi Theater becomes a hero of the match Russia - Azerbaijan
10.06.2025 12:09
After a disappointing defeat of 1-3 against Paraguay on June 7, the Russian artists' national team entered the match against Azerbaijan in the "Art Football 2025" with a fierce attitude and a strong desire to win. However, the Azerbaijani opponent proved to be tough, and the guests' goal remained locked for a long time.
It was only in the 35th minute that 43-year-old football veteran Roman Pavlyuchenko (former player for "Lokomotiv", London "Tottenham Hotspur", and the Russian national team) scored in the far corner of the Azerbaijani goal after a long pass from 56-year-old Eric Yakimovich (another football veteran who once played for Minsk and Moscow's "Dynamo" and the national team of Belarus). Russia took the lead.
But the joy was short-lived. A minute later (in added time), the Azerbaijan team equalized the score. The teams went to the locker room tied at 1-1. The second goal for Azerbaijan was scored by Denis Gladkiy (the leader of the band "Intonation", author of songs for the series "Mолодежка," and laureate of the "Golden Gramophone"). In the 46th minute, Russia led 2-1. The entire Azerbaijani team rushed to the assistant referee, demanding the goal be disallowed, which they believed was offside. One of the Azerbaijani players was so emotional in his claims to the referee that he received a red card. However, on the replay (the match was fully broadcast on YouTube), it was clear that there was no offside.
The organizer of "Art Football," Yuri Davydov, explained into the microphone that according to "Art Football" rules, a replacement can be made in case of a player's ejection. "11 people remain on the field," Davydov emphasized. According to the championship regulations among artists, halves last 35 minutes, and the team may include two former professionals. For the opposing team in this match, 37-year-old (former national team player of Azerbaijan) Vugar Nadirov and 40-year-old former "Karabakh" player Huseyn Iskanderov played.
In the 52nd minute, another actor, Dmitry Belotserkovskiy, scored the third goal in the opponents' net after a pass from actor Alexander Aleshkin. With 18 minutes remaining in the match, Russia led 3-1. Our guys calmed down. The Azerbaijani team players, on the contrary, became more active and increased their pace.
In the 56th minute of the match, Roman Pavlyuchenko pulled a muscle in his thigh while reaching for the ball and sat on the substitutes' bench. "Pause, pause," shouted voices from the sidelines. Dragging out time with a score of 3-1 is a small football trick, albeit one not prohibited by regulations even in professional football.
In the 60th minute, Vugar Nadirov scored with a long-range shot, lifting the ball over the Russian goalkeeper. The ball hit the crossbar and ended up in the net. 3-2. After a mistake from the Russian national team goalkeeper Gleb Gervassiev, 7 minutes before the end of regular time, Honored Artist of Azerbaijan, violinist Salim Abbasov equalized the score - 3-3.
The fourth goal scored by the Russians was offside and was not counted. Regular time expired. But the referee added 4 minutes, and then another one due to long delays when medics rushed onto the field to assist injured players. In the fifth minute of added time, with seconds remaining before the final whistle, the French horn player of the Bolshoi Theater orchestra, Vasiliy Nosakov, scored the winning goal with a powerful shot under the crossbar. Russia achieved its first and very important victory. In the chat of the Russian team after the match, congratulations and excitement poured in: "You wouldn't even see this in a movie!", "I now have a totally different attitude towards the Bolshoi Theater orchestra," "What a blast!" "Thanks for the emotions, guys! Go, Russia!"
On June 11 at 18:00 at the "Sapsan Arena," Russia will play against Kazakhstan, for which, by the way, a former professional, Brazilian Paulo Ricardo Kaká, now heading the national Kazakh mini-football team, has been signed, a former player of Spain's "Barcelona."