The catcher in the ‘sandbox’

Aleh Hapon talked about his unusual path in sports and the best achievement of the Belarusian national beach soccer team at the 2024 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup

The Belarusian national beach soccer team achieved the highest result in history at the 2024 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup held in the United Arab Emirates on February 15th–25th — it became the fourth. Yet, the players have noted that they wanted a higher result and could do better than that. At the start of the tournament, they defeated the Japanese, Senegalese and Colombians. In the quarterfinals they were victorious against the three–time world champions Portuguese. The Belarusians only lost to the Italian team in a penalty shootout in the match for reaching the final. Alas, the Belarusian squad suffered a loss to the Iranian team in the dispute for bronze. Aleh Hapon, the forward of Belarus’ national team, summarised the team’s participation in the tournament, “We have achieved a high result, but the sediment has remained. We were very close to the final. Perhaps we lacked concentration… So the emotions are mixed now.”

Aleh Hapon, player of the Belarusian national beach soccer team

Aleh Hapon was one of the players who set the tone for our national team’s performance at the tournament — he scored a hat-trick in the match against Senegal. The footballer also showed great game in subsequent matches. Unfortunately, Aleh could not enter the field in the decisive game — he received two yellow cards and had to watch the match from the stands. 
— This is probably the worst feeling! Even when you get injured and sit on the bench, you feel close to the team. When you sit in the stands and realise that you are healthy and ready to help the national team, but you can’t ... It was really frustrating to face an expulsion like that.

 — When our team was going to the World Cup, everyone was talking cautiously about the expectations of the tournament. Did you have any anticipation that you would be able to fight for the medals? 
— We had a very strong group — the Japanese were the finalists of the last World Cup, the Senegalese took fourth place in 2021, the Colombians were strong, too. We had not even got out of the group before. In general, it is hard to make any predictions until you see other teams in action. Before the opening game, we were told, “You must beat Senegal!” We also realised that the first match was the most important one. It turned out to be very emotional, but we persevered. Then we just took it one match at a time… I will repeat myself — there is a feeling that we should have been in the final, but we were unlucky this time. 

— Has the attitude of the opponents towards our national team changed?
— It has been two years now [since their attitude changed]. Head coach of the national team Nicolas Alvarado, and my friends from beach soccer have repeatedly said that no one wants to play against Belarusians now. Many countries stick to the so-called European football, which is mostly technical, nice and emotional. We are used to working hard on the field and playing in a physical manner. We have our own style, and other teams are now wary of meeting with us on the field. 

Before beach soccer, Aleh Hapon tried his hand at baseball, association football and futsal     


— The fourth place is probably the most bitter. Have you increased your ambitions after this performance?
— For sure. It has made us incredibly hungry for winning medals now!
...Currently, the players of our national team have focused all their attention on the clubs. Pre-season training is underway. That is why the day before Aleh went from Minsk to St. Petersburg to join BSC Kristall, where he has been playing for several seasons already. The biography of this athlete is anything but ordinary — if only because his sports path began in Skidel... in baseball! 
— Now, Skidel has football and volleyball facilities, and more. In general, sport is developing there. Back in my childhood, there were only two sports clubs — baseball and rowing. I immediately realised that kayaking and canoeing were not my thing, so I came to the baseball club at the age of seven to try my hand at this sport. I played at the catcher position, and I did well. We had a good adult team — it became the champion of Belarus. Although baseball is not a particularly common sport in Belarus, many people were involved in it back then. At first, baseball players trained on the football field, and when the main team began to win, the construction of a baseball stadium started. 

— When was the last time you went out on the field?
— At the age of 10–11. Then I got into football — the coaches of FC Neman Grodno noticed me. It was not difficult to adjust to it after baseball. Besides, I have always liked football. As a child, we played with the older guys at the stadium from morning till evening. We had a very good coach, Pavel Rodnenok, in the Neman club, but when it was time to switch to the reserve team, he left the club. The head coach was supposed to be another specialist, with whom I had a conflict. So there was no option with the reserve for the Grodno team. Still, there were chances to move to the first league. I was entering university at that time, and coach Vasily Savich invited me to play for the university’s futsal team, which was the reserve for UVD–Dinamo. I started there and then moved to the main team. 

— Why did you eventually replace the parquet floor with sand? 
— There was a pause in the season from April to September, and we played beach soccer during that period to keep fit. Once I was offered to try myself in this sport. I came to one training session, the second, the third, and I liked it.

— Apart from the playing surface, are futsal and beach soccer very different? 
— Dynamics and speed of decision-making are very important in futsal. Seconds decide everything there. In beach soccer, you can carry out longer attacks, fight tactically — as they say, play with your head, not just with technique. Although the sports are somewhat similar, but due to the different surface, there are differences in the training process since completely different muscles are involved.

— Baseball, beach soccer… These are not the most typical sports for Belarus. Are you in principle keen on everything unusual and new?
— I liked baseball for its uniqueness. As for beach soccer, I must admit that I did not plan to stay long in it — everything was fine for me in futsal. I had to choose one direction and I was leaning towards futsal. Then I got a phone call and was told that I was called up to the Belarusian national team. I was excited about the opportunity and decided that I should try. So I came and met the guys in the team. I was immediately placed with Ihar Bryshtel. For the first two days, we did not talk at all. Then we got to know each other, he began to share his experience, told me where he played, how he travelled the world, and I thought that I wanted to do it too.  

— Do you remember your first match for the national team?
— If we talk about the official one, it was September 2017 — the Euro Beach Soccer League Superfinal in Terracina, Italy. I was not supposed to play in that tournament. Twelve players were taken to play in the starting lineup, and two players were selected as reserves — I was one of them. I was sitting on the bench, when Denis Samsonov suddenly broke his little finger during the match. Nico Alvarado looked at me and I understood everything. We won 2–0 in that match against the Ukrainian team, but I did not really do anything special to be remembered for. My first goal for the national team happened in 2018 in Baku, where I scored a goal against the Azerbaijani national team with a bicycle kick. 

— Our beach soccer squad has been the most successful among team sports in the country in recent years. Do you have a close-knit team?
— I think we are one of the closest-knit teams in our sport. When Nico became the head coach, he unified all the players. He made some rearrangements, introduced some rules of his own, and it brought us all together as a team. Of course, we spend a lot of time together with the guys — probably even more than with our relatives. Thus, if we count all the training camps and competitions we attend, I can say that I see my friend from university times Mikita Chaikouski at least 200 days a year! It is about the same with everyone else from the team. 

Aleh Hapon scored a hat-trick in the match against Senegal

By Tatiana Pastushenko