Reaction following the victory against Finland at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games

Vladimir Filatov, Ruslan Gazizov and Ivan Miroshnichenko all shared their emotions after defeating Finland 6:2 in the semi-final of the 2020 Youth Olympic Games in Switzerland.

Head coach Vladimir Filatov:

- Our target is to win. Yes, it's nice that we won by a large score, but the most important match will take place tomorrow. Despite the large scoreline, we knew that Finland are a strong opponent, so we had to raise our voices with the players on the bench after making some mistakes. At times, the Finns did compete in a rather rough manner, but our guys stood up to the challenge and achieved the required result. Everyone understands the importance of the final against the USA.

Forward Ruslan Gazizov:

- I am really happy that we managed to win and by such a big scoreline. Of course, none of us expected to score so many goals, but I think that we were a bit more lucky than the Finns with our opportunities, and we also made a great start in the first period. Probably, the score made some of us relax, so as a result the second stanza wasn't as good. We improved in the third period. It's my birthday? The other players wished me a happy birthday.

Forward Ivan Miroshnichenko:

- We feel a little bit tired after this game, so we will now rest and prepare for the next game. Today, I wouldn't say that it was an easy match, we simply managed to use our opportunities unlike Finland. The USA? We know that they have a couple of very strong players. I think that luck will be on our side, we'll play our style of game.