VTB Europe (part of the Investment Business) assembled a crack team of footballers to take part in Steel Business Briefing’s annual football tournament in Hyde Park on July 24th. It was a lovely, sunny afternoon when our lads took the field, battling against the hard guys of ArcelorMittal, Atkins Management, Balli, Corus, JCY Steel Supplies, LN Metals, Stemcor, and Triland Metals. Captained by Konstantin Vishnyak of Loan Syndications, the team hailed from such diverse departments as Global Markets, Human Resources and Business Support Services. In 3 games out of 4, VTB Europe led the score, finally finishing in the middle of the table. 
Despite not having trained together extensively, the team fought hard against some wicked competition. Martin Driscoll from Operations and Jose Pacheco of Human Resources distinguished themselves with their aggressive ‘attack’ style of play, both scoring with Denis Golovenko providing strike support. Konstantin Vishnyak and Mohammad Akber provided imposing midfield cover. Anton Galkin played it cool despite being fouled repeatedly and Ian Parkins swept the backfield, providing defence to Maxim Izotov on goal. All players agreed that with a little more practice they would be a true force to be reckoned with and pronounced their intention to play together again. Perhaps the VTB Spartakaida will give them the opportunity to bring an international flavour to the football competition.
