"Only Bonaire wants to play us": Russian national football team refuses a humiliating offer

The Russian national team refused to play a friendly match with the national team of the Caribbean island of Bonaire. According to Sport-Express, Bonaire's representatives approached the Russian Football Union (RFU) with a proposal to hold the match but were denied because the Russian national team's schedule is allegedly already full.

The president of the Russian Football Union, Alexander Dyukov, has previously noted that Russia is ready to play only with teams that are included in the FIFA rankings. Bonaire's team is not a member of this organization, although it participates in CONCACAF tournaments.

The Russian team is planning 10 friendly matches for 2025. In March, the national team will play two games in Africa, and two in Asia in November. The opponents have not yet been determined.

Bonaire is an island in the Caribbean Sea 90 km north of the Venezuelan coast, and is part of the Lesser Antilles archipelago.

Together with the coastal islets, it is a special community of the Netherlands, which, however, is not part of any of the Dutch provinces, but together with two other communities in the Lesser Antilles constitutes the Dutch possession of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, also called the Caribbean Netherlands. The population is 15,666 (as of 2011).

In the comments, Russian fans are shocked by such a humiliation of their team.

"Well, this day has come. I don't even know where it is located but it's the only team that wants to play us", "The schedule is full, but there are no opponents. They shouldn't have refused Bonaire, we could have scored 20 goals", "And some said no one wants to play us. Now we wait for Aruba and Turks and Caicos to catch up," users mock.

As reported, on January 21, it became known that the Pakistan Football Federation refused to hold a friendly match with Russia. It was supposed to take place in October 2024, but was canceled. It is known that Tanzania rejected Russia too.

On November 15, the Russian national football team defeated the second squad of the Brunei one 11-0 in a friendly match. It took place on November 15, and the Asians, who are 184th in the world ranking, were unable to bring the main lineup to Krasnodar because the athletes were on vacation at the time.

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