LTA Agency’s Spanish striker Maria Ruiz, better known as Mery, scored a crucial second goal and provided two assists for her Zvezda-2005 teammates as they defeated Norwegian Champions and Cup Winners Røa IL 4:0 in the second leg of the UEFA Women’s Champions League round of 16 to qualify for the spring quarterfinal stage 5:1 on aggregate.

The result represents the reverse of the last-year’s round of 16 tie between the same opponents when Røa went through on away goals after 1:1 and 0:0 draws. It marks the second time the Russian club from the most eastern European city of Perm makes it to the spring stages of the competition after a run to the final in 2008-2009 season. Zvezda-2005 joins the other 7 European powerhouses in this Friday’ s quarterfinal draw in Nyon, Switzerland along with English Arsenal and Everton, French Juvisy and Lyon, German Turbine and Duisburg, and Linköpings of Sweden.

Mery is the last remaining representative of Spain in Europe’s best 2010-2011 women’s club competition after last year’s Superliga Champions Rayo Vallecano were eliminated by Arsenal in London. The Madrid-born striker was also named player of the match in the previous round of the tournament when she scored a goal and had an assist in Limassol against the Cypriot victors of the giants from Umea – FC Apollon. Zvezda-2005 won the match 2:1.

Along with Mery, LTA Agency’s Mexican midfielder Fatima Leyva, South African forward Busi Ndimeni, and Bulgarian strength and conditioning coach Kaloyan Petkov were part of Zvezda’s success and will be preparing for the quarter final matches in March of next year.

All eight quarter-finalists in focus from UEFA.com: 2010-2011 UEFA Women’s Champions League Quarter-Finalists

Zvezda beat the fellow title-challengers FC Energia Voronezh in front of about 900 home faithful braving rain and cold at the Zvezda Stadium in Perm Sunday. The seemingly comfortable 3:0 scoreline behind the strikes by Zvezda’s Ukrainian internationals Vera Djatel and Dasha Apanaschenko and an own goal from Yulia Zapotichnaya did not impress the Polish-born tactician:

“I am very disappointed with our team, especially with the way our midfielders and forwards played. 4-5 players completely fell out of the game today. We will have to work very hard, and the team will have to improve quickly if we want to achieve anything this season. This concerns both foreign and Russian players. This performance is completely unacceptable, and if we continue to play like this we’ll even struggle against our reserve team,” said Borkowski at the post-match press-conference.

Zvezda-2005 will play their next match away to last year’s Russian Premier League Runners-Up and Cup Winners – FC Rossiyanka (Moscow Region) on April 29th in Krasnoarmeysk.

LTA Agency client and WFC Zvezda-2005 Perm head coach Shek Borkowski gave this interview to lta-agency.com one month before the start of the League season in Russia.

LTA: How do you assess the first half of the preseason with your new team?
SB: The progress has been slower than expected. While physically Kaloyan (Petkov) is building a good foundation of the long-term conditioning of the players, in terms of tactical discipline the challenges we face as a team prove more difficult than I initially anticipated. The team has responded well to the new philosophy and methods. The difficulty stems from the fact that we went from a Russian based team to a team with more foreign players, and it is natural that all players come with their specific sets of physical, technical, and most importantly psychological characteristics.

LTA: What new players have you brought in so far?
SB: Fatima Leyva, Jess O’Rourke, Jomo, Busi, Ifeanyi Chiejine, Svetlana Zangieva, and Galina Vazhnova are here for the preseason.

LTA: Do you feel that the foreign players are adjusting well to the team and the unfamiliar environment?
SB: There’s always an adjustment period when you go to a different country, but the players have been doing well so far.

LTA: How has the team responded to the influx of new players?
SB: Most players evaluate all the newcomers in terms of the value they will bring to the team, so looking at the players we have brought in now, they accept them.

LTA: You have played a couple of preseason games already? Are you satisfied with their outcome?
SB: FC Zurich (whom Zvezda-2005 defeated 3:0) was a disciplined and well-organized team, but still lacked experienced international players, so the challenge for us was creating opportunities and scoring goals. I gave ourselves C- for that performance. Against LdB FC Malmö (Zvezda won 3:2), the challenge was different because that team has very experienced international players (Therese Sjögran, Nilla Fischer, Pavlina Scasna, Manon Melis, and others), so the game against them was tactically much more difficult. Technically and physically we coped with it relatively well, but tactically it took us quite a bit of time to solve the problem in the midfield. I would give the team B+ for the fighting spirit and C for the overall performance. Finally we played Tyresö FF also from Sweden today. We won 4:1, and I can give the team a B-. Our forwards did very well this game, and Apanaschenko scored a great goal.

LTA: What has pleased you so far?
SB: The team’s attitude towards learning new ideas is good, but it took me at least 6 weeks of individual and team meetings to try to get my ideas across. At this point I believe all players are behind what we want to achieve and how we want to achieve it.

LTA: Can you tell us more about where your team trains and plays during the preseason?
SB: It is the sixth week of the preseason. Most of it we have spent at the so-called Turkish Riviera on the Mediterranean coast. The facilities here in Antalya are simply fantastic, and there is nothing in the US that even comes close to it whether we talk about the hotels, the service, the food, the training fields, etc. Two years ago we had a preseason camp in Bradenton with FC Indiana, and with all the due respect to Florida, there is simply no comparison to where Zvezda trains now. We use the same facilities which all the leading European men’s clubs use for their preseason training.

LTA: Is the squad now set, or do you expect any changes?
SB: As any leading team in the world we are never completely satisfied. We will always look and evaluate any potential players for the club.

LTA: What are your team’s plans now?
SB: Russian WNT players will go to the national team camp for a week. We’ll go back to Perm for 10 days and continue to train there. Then we plan on going to either Belgium, Spain, or Holland to get a couple of strong friendlies before we kick off our season. Our first game will be at home against FC Energia Voronezh on the 17th of April.

LTA: Any final comments?
SB: The most important concept I stress to my players is that we don’t play against our opponents; we compete against ourselves. Giveaways, lack of effort, or lack of tactical discipline are the things that we can avoid, and as long as all the players carry out the tasks that I ask them to perform, then it doesn’t matter what our opponents do, we should win.

LTA: You have been successful in America, why move to Russia? Why now?
SB: I need to improve as a coach and that can only come from operating outside of my comfort zone. I have coached the same club for 6 years, and it was time for a change and a new challenge. The league where FC Indiana competes is going through changes, and when the opportunity presented itself, I decided to take it. As all coaches I want to coach against the best, I want to challenge my players and myself.

LTA: What are your goals in Russia and what do you want to achieve as a coach in general?
SB: Short term I want to win the Russian League and the Cup, and the UEFA Women’s Champions
League. Ultimately, I want to coach in the Women’s World Cup and win it.

LTA: Those are very ambitious goals, are they realistic?
SB: With commitment and hard work anything is possible. Specifically in Russia, the talent is here. What is missing is the focus and the approach. When I take on a task, I do it to the best of my ability and aim as high as possible. If I didn’t dream about winning the World Cup or that goal was unattainable for me, I would not coach. Winning it all in women’s football is what drives me to go across the world to coach.

LTA: Can you achieve your goals at Zvezda?
SB: Why not? In Stanislav Kharitonov I have an opportunity to work with one of the best football executives in Europe. He has a good vision, wants to win and be the best, and takes care of the finer details. He is one of the reasons I am in Russia.

LTA: Your thoughts on Russia’s performance in the Euro 2009 in Finland?
SB: They underperformed because they lacked experience at this level and conceded very poor goals. Take for example all three goals conceded against England. Very poor from Russia’s perspective. But there is great latent potential. Russia really is at a very unique point in time as far as women’s football goes. The next three years can really help them arrive internationally. Four years ago Russia won the U19 Euros. That generation of players will be reaching footballing maturity in 3-4 years time, and they represent Russia’s best chance for international success. And make no mistake, they have the quality necessary to compete against Germany and USA, no doubt in my mind.

LTA: What are your thoughts about women’s football in Europe?
SB: The level is excellent. Clearly, Germany is at the forefront of development of the game and has excellent women’s football infrastructure and environment. Having said that, I believe that Russia right now has a very unique opportunity to gain ground on both Germany and USA.

LTA: Some would say that before catching up to Germany and USA, Russia needs to catch up to Sweden, don’t you think?
SB: No, Sweden have reached their peak both in terms of their national team and Damallsvenskan, and I think you will see countries such as Russia, France, Holland, England pass them by. The opportunity is certainly there.

LTA: You have coached 28 internationals from 19 countries, does anyone stand out?
SB: No, all players have unique character traits and footballing abilities, and I treat them all equally. I ask for excellence and commitment in every training session and match, and when they deliver, we get along fine.

LTA: The biggest difference in coaching in America and in Europe?
SB: [pause] There is no promotion/relegation in America so there is very little pressure. You can lose and there are minimal consequences for clubs. In Europe top clubs can’t afford to drop points, quality, and consistency is required for success.

LTA: You have some critics in America who say that you can be difficult.
SB: [Laughs] Who said I am difficult? Probably owners and coaches of teams I beat. My wife thinks I am nice. All joking aside, too many people confuse charisma with quality. As a coach I have to recognize qualities in players and have to have my tactics right in every match. Coaches do not have to be liked. They have to be respected but not liked, especially by opponents [laughs]. Respect comes from quality training, discipline, and winning. I interact or socialize with players very little off the field. Coaching is a results oriented business, and I don’t get paid for being a pen pal. I get paid for results; that’s why I am here in Russia.

LTA: As a coach, do you get the best out of all your players and what can Zvezda players expect?
SB: Without a doubt. I will get them to perform at a level they didn’t think it was possible for them to perform. All Zvezda players who will be in my top 11 will be good enough to be in Russia’s top 11.

LTA: You went out of the UEFA Champions League on goal difference. That must have been a disappointment for the club and for you?
SB: Yes, but from day one our focus was on 2010 after I had a chance to bring in my players, staff, methods, and philosophy.

LTA: Thank you for your time and good luck in the new season in Russia!
SB: Thank you. I can’t wait to start our pre-season next month.