Armenian journalists’ team has won the bronze again in the football tournament in Druskininkai, Lithuania. For the third successive year, the Armenian team took the third place in the competition between ten teams (two teams from Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Egypt, Germany and Latvia).
Mediamax Chief Editor and team captain Davit Alaverdyan has told Mediamax Sport about the goals of the tournament and the consistent performance of the Armenian team.
Photo: Mediamax
“If we make comparison with last year’s competition, Georgian journalists didn’t send a team. Instead, we had Germany and two teams from Latvia. The second one, Kaunas, was very strong. We played nine games in four hours, almost all of them were difficult for us. We started well this year too and won our games. We were aiming for the win and shared the top spot with Russia and Lithuania after the first round of games. We had injuries in the second round and the fatigue started affecting us, so the teams with more young players or a better squad rotation strategy performed better,” said Alaverdyan.
According to him, the team from Belarus surpassed everyone thanks to their young squad and took the gold for the second consecutive year. The experienced Russian team won the silver and the Armenian team didn’t beat only the gold and silver medalists, winning 5 games and drawing 2 in total.
Photo: Mediamax
The captain says they should have beaten Germany, who lost to almost everyone and took the last place. “Unfortunately, their goalkeeper chose the game against us to find unexpected brilliance. He made crazy saves, so the game ended in a draw. As usual, it was difficult against the Vilnius team. They play athletic football, we play technically competent football, so we drew again,” said Alaverdyan.
The winners and runners-up change almost every year, but the Armenian team is still the bronze medalist. According to Davit Alaverdyan, it might seem easy to play nine games in several hours and finish third, but many teams actually dream to get the bronze.
“We aren’t really fighting against other teams as much as our own bodies. The average age is 36 in our team and we have players aged 43 and 44. Even young players can’t keep up with the packed schedule, but we play consistently.
At the closing ceremony, the organizers even jokingly suggested booking the bronze for Armenia forever or even naming the prize after our country,” he added.
Photo: Mediamax
Although they compete during the tournament, the priority is an environment of brotherhood and solidarity for the journalists. Many of the participants have known each other for years.
“You can consider it a European championship among journalists, although Egypt usually competes too and they came with a big squad and fans this time. We secure high ratings for Armenia and are listed as favorites. Everyone knows playing against us is difficult and we fight till the end. Everyone gets a prize, though, because we never arrive with empty hands. We also represent our country in the cultural aspect.
I would like to use this opportunity to thank ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank, a big friend of sports and football particularly, which always supports our team. We are also grateful to the Lithuanian Union of Journalists as represented by Tautvydas Vencevičius and the Lithuanian Embassy in Armenia, both good friends of Armenian people. We received significant help and encouragement from Ambassador of Armenia to Poland Edgar Ghazaryan. It should be noted that the Armenian community of Druskininkai and especially our biggest fan Martin did everything to make us feel at home even in a small Lithuanian town. Believe me, the support we received from all these people is noted and appreciated,” concluded Davit Alaverdyan.
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