By David V.
July 5th 2009 @ 6:13am
Related coverage
FC BATE building a dynasty in Belarus
They produced players like Alexander Hleb and Vitali Kutuzov, two of the highest profile current Belarusian internationals currently plying their trade abroad. And now, BATE Borisov are building a dynasty in their own right.
Borisov is a city of around 150,000 located east of the capital Minsk. And it’s now the home of the dominant Belarusian club side of the past few years, winning three consecutive League titles and currently looking good for a fourth (currently 9 points clear at the time of writing). Their 2008 success is their fifth in all.
Belarus is one of a number of countries to operate a calendar year season due to climactic factors, Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway being among the others.
Last year, BATE made history by being Belarus’ first-ever representative in the group stage of the Champions’ League after eliminating Anderlecht and Levski Sofia. They were drawn with giants like Real Madrid and Juventus. Although predictably finishing bottom of the group, they still managed three draws- including two with Juventus.
BATE’s squad includes several Belarusian internationals, and star players include the gifted attacking midfield duo of Igor Stasevich and Sergei Krivets, both of whom scored against Juventus. They follow the pattern set by teams of the former Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc in general- a well-drilled side with high levels of technical ability and tactical awareness.
Belarus are currently coached by former Perth Glory coach Bernd Stange, under whom a fair number of domestic players have been utilised, and they now find themselves in contention for second place in their group behind England. One of those, FC Vitebsk midfielder Pavel Sitko, scored against England in a 3-1 home loss.
Should BATE repeat their feat of qualifying for the first group stage, last year’s experience will put them in good stead and big name opponents will await- filling up the club coffers will not be a problem. Considering Arsenal’s poor away record against teams from the region (having suffered defeats to Spartak Moscow, Dynamo Kiev, CSKA Moscow and Shaktar Donetsk), and that Chelsea are also susceptible to tripping up to this kind of opponent, dire warnings of doom and defeat for the English capital’s clubs are not without without sound foundation.
Like this content? Buzz it up!
Free Email updates:
Our daily emails are only sent if there is content for the sport or that author. You can subscribe to multiple daily emails; or get the daily Roar email with all our content in it. We value privacy. More...


(8)
![I thought I was persona non grata with Football Federation Australia but at least someone appears to be reading my work, judging from the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed late last week by the FFA and its Indonesian counterpart, the Football Association of Indonesia or PSSI.
While it stops short of a joint World Cup [...] Jesse Fink: FFA’s Indonesia deal a watershed for Australia](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/poisoned-chalice-allsopp-th.jpg)
![Meatloaf sang that “two out of three ain’t bad”. The big man would probably have made a handy prop, and of the Storm he could have sang, “two out of four is damn impressive”.
Four straight grand finals and two premierships to boot, the Storm’s display looked like it came from a side that was used [...] Steve Kaless: Clinical Storm derail the Hayne train](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/its-storm-eels-jeff-lima-th.jpg)
![It’s time again to take off your club colours and slap on the green and gold. Another FIFA international date is upon us, and thankfully even the A-League is stepping aside for a week – though not the National Youth or Women’s Leagues.
There probably hasn’t been as important a FIFA international date since this [...] Davidde Corran: Verbeek experiments but Socceroos lack depth](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/verbeek-experiments-socceroos-th.jpg)
![While globalistation is now considered an antiquated and accepted concept of the twentieth century, it seems its effects are hitting the biggest domestic sporting leagues.
With the NBA and NFL having staged sell out matches in London, and the EPL floating the 39th game idea, sport is set to face one its biggest shake ups. [...] Adrian Musolino: Why sports should never abandon their heartland](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/never-abandon-heartland-barrichello-th.jpg)
![A recent story in the Sydney Morning Herald referred to a new development in cricket bats, with about a quarter of the back of it flattened and rolled so that a batsman, especially in Twenty-20 cricket, could use both sides of it as a switch hitter.
If the development is a success, it will represent the [...] Spiro Zavos: Double-bladed bats have the wood on tradition](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/double-handed-bats.jpg)
![It was only when I started scribbling some notes for this week’s column that I realised the errors of my timing. For some time, I have suggested on The Roar that a massive opportunity sits as yet untested for both Football Federation Australia and Cricket Australia.
And I thought this week was time to expand on [...] Brett McKay: Show A-League and Twenty20 on Friday nights](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/is-a-league-boring-rudan-ognenovski-costa-th.jpg)
![They say the Sydney sporting market is one of the most competitive in the world. Rather, it’s one of the most fickle sporting markets, with such incredible fluctuations in crowd figures across all codes.
But, aside from form, the presence of a star name is the only guarantee of increasing, or at least stabilising crowds, no [...] Adrian Musolino: West Sydney franchises need to find star power](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/robbie-fowler-th.jpg)
![If any fringe player pushed his case for inclusion in Pim Verbeek’s 23 man World Cup squad in appalling conditions in Kuwait City yesterday morning (our time), it was Nurnberg wide-man Dario Vidosic.
Make no mistake, this was a difficult game against very good opposition, played on a terrible surface.
The Socceroos went to the Middle East [...] Tony Tannous: Vidosic shines, but life’s a pitch for others in Kuwait](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/socceroos-kuwait-wilkshire-th.jpg)
![The scoreline of 32 – 19 to the All Blacks against the Wallabies in Toyko did not give justice to how tough this Test was for New Zealand to win. The All Blacks scored two tries to one, admittedly. And the Peter Hynes try was awarded by Mark Lawrence, the South African referee when he [...] Spiro Zavos: Wallabies All Black-ed in a tough Test in Tokyo](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/wallabies-miss-chance-th.jpg)
![There have been some exceptionally good pieces written over the last few days from members of the football media. Even more exciting is that they’ve all come from the next generation of local football journalists.
Vitor Sobral and Tony Tannous have both written great analysis of the Socceroos friendly with the Netherlands.
Here at The [...] Davidde Corran: Crowds aren’t just FFA’s responsibility](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/forget-second-division-create-ffa-cup-th.jpg)
![None of the New Zealand pundits got anywhere near picking the 33 players selected for the All Blacks Spring tour. Four of the tourists have never played Test rugby (Mike Delany, Tamati Ellison, Zac Guilford and Ben Smith).
Three of them have six Tests between them (Tom Donnelly 1, Tawerau Latimer 3, and Liam [...] Spiro Zavos: All Blacks revolution: new players and ‘new’ coaches](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/All-Blacks-revolution-Graham-Henry-th.jpg)
![I’ve always thought that Channel Nine sports presenter Ken Sutcliffe would be a good bloke to share a beer with. Thirty years of covering everything from the America’s Cup to Wimbledon means he’s probably got plenty of tales to tell.
Admittedly my rationale isn’t based on the most scientific of premises.
One year for [...] Mike Tuckerman: A-League excites despite media indifference](http://www.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/a-league-excites-carlos-hernandez-th.jpg)




David V. said | July 5th 2009 @ 8:44pm | Report comment
They’re now 11 points clear…
The qualifying rounds of the CL aren’t far off for these teams either. Let’s see how it all goes.
Koala Bear said | July 6th 2009 @ 7:31pm | Report comment
David V,
I have no idea what this article is all about, but did you know Germany beat England (uder 20 Euro final) the other day 4-0… Should Stuart Pearce be chopped for what was a disastourous campaign…?
~~~~~~~~
KB
David V. said | July 6th 2009 @ 8:42pm | Report comment
Yes I heard of that result. Worrying times isn’t it?
Koala Bear said | July 6th 2009 @ 8:46pm | Report comment
David V,
not for us Aussies….
~~~~~~~~
KB
FIsher Price said | July 7th 2009 @ 11:17am | Report comment
Pearce’s team played like Blackburn/Bolton/Stoke/Birmingham… Passing? Forget about it.
David V. said | July 7th 2009 @ 12:08pm | Report comment
And I find that deeply ironic for someone who played under Brian Clough.
Koala Bear said | July 7th 2009 @ 12:23pm | Report comment
David V,
didn’t SP also play under Tommy Docherty…? That England under 20s side had some England WC squad players in it as well..? Theo Walcott for one..
~~~~~~~
KB
David V. said | July 7th 2009 @ 1:26pm | Report comment
No he didn’t… and Tommy Docherty was another who advocated the beautiful game, his Chelsea and Man Utd sides always played entertaining football. In fact, Doc could have achieved far more success had he not fallen out with Chelsea’s top players of the time (Terry Venables and George Graham), or that extra-marital affair at Old Trafford…