The Russian national team on November 17 holds its second match of the year. For this, the team of Valery Karpin arrived in Dushanbe. Football players and coaches shared photos and videos, which showed how warmly our guys were welcomed in Tajikistan.

However, it is unlikely that the players of the Russian national team will remember the unpleasant incident right before the match with a positive. A few minutes before the kick-off whistle, the stadium lights went out.

Turns out it was meant to be!

“It’s not up to fat, I would live,” perhaps this saying may well become the slogan of the Russian national football team in the near future. The opponents are not those with whom we want to play, but those who want and can play with us. It is clear that Bishkek and Dushanbe have practically no experience in holding top-level matches. There, the organization of football events is approached with local flavor and sincerity, which sometimes leads to not quite standard situations.

So, an hour and a half before the start of a friendly match between the Russian team and the team of Tajikistan, the lights suddenly went out at the Central Republican Stadium in Dushanbe. The arena, which can accommodate 24,000 spectators, plunged into darkness for several minutes. At the same time, there were already people in the stands, and some sectors were completely filled with fans.

The sudden blackout surprised not only the fans, but also the participants in the future match. At the same time, the audience did not lose their heads and lit flashlights on their mobile phones, arranging a kind of flash mob. The alarm dissipated after a few minutes, when the lighting was restored.

Later, the Football Federation of Tajikistan told Match TV that the power outage was planned and took place as part of an inspection of the operation of emergency systems. Not the most typical situation for top-level matches, but the main thing is that the organizers keep everything under control, and nothing threatens the match.

Valery Karpin surprised football fans by putting up an experimental team for the match with Tajikistan. Selikhov at the gate, Glebov as captain and 18-year-old Pinyaev at the start. And a number of names that we hardly expected to see in the national team. So the match with Tajikistan will be interesting anyway. If only the emergency test would not come in handy.