Stanislav Cherchesov commented Russia’s 1-0 win against the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in Euro 2012 qualification in his interview with RBK Sport.

- What is your impression of the game?
-  The most important is that we won 1-0 and did not fall behind. The teams had equal opportunities in the first half and I would say that Macedonians performed quite well in defense during the opening 20 minutes. This led to several dangerous attacks and attempts on target which were luckily saved by Malafeev.

By the end of the first half our team already started to grasp dominance. Macedonians made several unnecessary mistakes providing counter-attacking opportunities to Russian players. The team regrouped as Pavlyuchenko came in the second half and with Macedonia forced to recover there were free zones which could have been taken advantages of to extend the lead. But Tosak’s players were well prepared to the game, hence so match strain on field.

- What results would you expect of the game against Ireland?
- The first game was important from fan motivation viewpoint as well. The team had to play in a way to draw fans to the second game as well. There would have been certain psychological tensions in case of a failure. But we have won and are moving forward.

- Whom would you pick out in Russian national?
- Arshavin performed a fine game. Zhirkov also displayed his best skills after a long break. It was no occasion that his flank was most active during the game. Berezutsky brothers performed well as well. I would also like to note Pandev dropped off the game after the penalty was not assigned and this worked pretty much to our benefit. He was quite active in the first half, displaying his leadership skills. But the yellow card and penalty kick which he was anticipating came disturbing to Pandev and it came as no surprise he was sent off already after the game.