Glenn Hoddle: Back On Track!

Veremenko made captain

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New Belarus manager Glenn Hoddle has made goalkeeper Siarhey Veremenko the captain of the national team at the age of 29. He had been made temporary captain after he replaced Yury Zhevnov, the former captain, in goal but now Hoddle has given him the armband permanently. Hoddle has been critiscized for not picking Krasnodar defender Alexander Martynovich for his squad to play Georgia in the first World Cup qualifying match.

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Georgia vs Belarus

Our World Cup Qualifying campaign started off away to Georgia, and we were very unlucky not to win. The lads were seemingly delighted with the draw but Georgia were nearly 30 places below us in the FIFA world rankings so we really should have won. I did my usual routine of checking the match reports.



Belarus secure massive point

Belarus drew 1-1 away at Georgia to get the World Cup Qualifying campaign off to a great start. Georgia took the lead through an early penalty but halfway through the first half Belarus equalised through Vitali Radzionau when he broke free and slotted home.






Most people were content with our draw and I was content with our performance but not the result. We probably could have won but although we played well we didn't complete too many passes and didn't create enough chances, but if went against France and played like that in our next match I believed we could beat them.

Post match Interview

Reporter: Well, err, Glenn, that's a good start to your campaign isn't it?
Glenn Hoddle: It was decent, but we could definitely improve the result.
R: Err, well it wasn't a bad result though! It was a very good result!
GH: They are 30 places below us in the world rankings!
R: OK!Sheesh! Did you think the performance was good?
GH: Yes,we were unlucky, we hit the bar around 3 times and the post a few times but we did play well, yes.
R: That's enough for me. Ladies and Gentleman, Glenn Hoddle.

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Belarus vs France

BRILLIANT! WE BEAT FRANCE IN A COMPETITIVE GAME! Just days after our draw with Georgia we had another game against France, and although the whole nation feared the worst, we actually won! It was 0-0 at half-time but Stanislau Drahun put us unbelievably ahead before we came crashing down to earth as Benzema scored, but Dmzitry Baha made up for his mistake in the last game by giving us an amazing win!



Giant-Killers Belarus

Belarus played possibly the best game in their history as they defeated France 2-1 in a World CUp qualifier. France were undoubted favourites but Belarus took the lead in the second half, and although Benzema equalised, they were able to score again and win the game. France will be disappointed with the result but the performance too was sub-standard as Belarus played them off the park.

Post match Interview

Reporter: Ha! What a victory, you must be absolutely DELIGHTED!
Glenn Hoddle: IT WAS MAGNIFICENT! We completely deserved it too, we played them off the park and it was a brilliant win!
R: Baha made up for his mistake in the last game, giving away a penalty, but he has given you the winner here. How do you feel about his performance?
GH: He certainly redeemed himself didn't he! It was a good goal, and we deserved it too!
R: Last question: Can you make the finals?
GH: If we play like that! YES WE CAN!

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Hoddle berates Martynovich

Belarus manager Glenn Hoddle has publicly critisized Krasnodar defender Alyaksandr Martynovich for disrespecting the coaching staff. Martynovich was reportedly in Hoddle's plans but was left out of the squad for not responding to Hoddle's phone calls, and still not responding to his phone when other members of the Belarus national set-up called. It is reported that Hoddle was able to hear his voice in the background,instructing his girlfriend not to pick up the phone as it was probably Hoddle. The manager was not available for comment but he is thought to have decided never to pick Martynovich again.