‘I feel free when I play for this team.’
Ahead of the biggest final in his country’s history, goalkeeper Muharbek Buraev is a little nervous. Sitting on the edge of an emptied swimming pool at the back of the hotel the team has been staying in, he looks pensively across Artsakh’s hills.
“I think we have a great chance of winning,” he says. “Every win has brought the team closer.”
Captain Soslan Kabulov agrees.
“We only met a week, maybe 10 days, before the tournament,” he says. “But we have become much more like a collective, like a team.”
Growing up in Vladikavkaz, in the foothills of the Caucasus mountains, Buraev has played football his whole life. He started mastering his trade at the Spartak Football Academy when he was eight years old, and stayed loyal to the club, having played for them ever since. This tournament, he says, has been a great chance to grow his talent even further.
“I feel free when I play for this team. I’m representing my country and it’s a big responsibility, but I’m so proud to play for South Ossetia. I even asked for special permission from my usual club.”
Buraev says he cannot imagine life without football, and his countrymen share his passion for the game.
“In South Ossetia, people love football,” he explains. “In ’95, Spartak became the champions of Russia and everyone had a huge party in the city! They really love football.”
They may have only met ten days before the tournament, but walking out together onto the field at Stepanakert and Askeran has made a team of these young men.
“We try to spend as much time together as possible,” says Buraev. “We play cards, watch TV, just sit around and talk to each other. It’s important for us to be together always.”
During the game, Buraev is singled minded in his focus on the game, but he talks to his team mates from his position in the nets. “I try and give them feedback. And there’s only one thing they should do — listen, and do it!”
As for football in South Ossetia, Buraev hopes it will continue to grow.
“I want younger generations to do everything they can for their dream,” he says. “If they want to be a footballer, they should go for their goal.”
Captain Soslan Kabulov agrees.
“We always dreamed of being footballers,” he says. “We didn’t have an education, didn’t learn any other profession. That’s why football is life for us.”
South Ossetia have undoubtedly been the tournaments surprise package, in the official CONIFA rankings they sat 31st on entry, the worst of all eight nations vying for the cup. But every time they have taken to the field, they’ve looked threatening, their main goalscorer, Batradz Gurtsiev currently the tournament leading goalscorer with five in four games.
‘I am so proud to score for my region — I can’t put it into words.’ explains Gurtsiev, ‘To win would be the happiest moment of my life’.
Batradz Gurtsiev is 3.00 to score the first goal against Western Armenia tonight
Watch South Ossetia in the final tonight live on https://mycujoo.tv/video/conifa
