Cup of Russia 2014 is one of the two major trophies in the Russian amateur football league. The final of the Championship of Russia was held on the banks of the Volga River in May of this year. Dynamo Saratov became champions.
This time St. Petersburg hosted the nationwide finals. Again the final was preceded by tense battles throughout Russia with the participation of several thousand amateur teams. Again, only the 18 best teams won the right to contest for the trophy.
But this time the format has changed to be a knockout competition.
The favourites were Dynamo from Saratov (the reigning champion of Russia), FC Bars Moscow (Russian champion in 2013), Gold from St. Petersburg (bronze medallist of the Russian Championship in 2014), Kursk (Russian Cup finalist in 2013) and CDKA Moscow (Russian champion in 2011). Amongst the players in those teams most of the candidates to the Russian team for the trip to MiniEURO2014 in Montenegro.
The Russian Cup was preceded by a major transfer. The best player of the Russian Championship that was held in Volzsk, Maxim Hodin, from Dynamo Saratov moved to the Gold Saint Petersburg.
The favourites showed the brightest game on the tournament. Kursk was eliminated in the quarter final stage, and gold in quarter finals, CDKA lost to blue garnet in the semi-finals.
The Champions from the two previous years FC Barca and Dynamo met in the final. Again the battle was between Moscow and Saratov, in a stunning repetition of the final of the Russian Championship 2012. Then Muscovites won the cup and the winning goal was scored by the legendary Alexander Panov.
And yet again the team known as “blue garnet” claimed the victory in 2014. Their account was opened by one of the leaders of FC Barca and the Russian team Valery Lihobabenko, another national team player, Saratovian Rudobelets, equalized. The first half ended in a draw 1: 1. A second-half goal was a beauty scored by Alexander Panov. It is this goal that was victorious. Cup of Russia was won by Moscow’s FC Bars!
That blue garnet are form the backbone of team Russia. The players of Dmitry Smirnov won three senior national titles (out of five) in the last two years, which is a stunning result.