Oleg Maslennikov

An ordinary working class boy, like all his peers, he played football day and night and dreamed of being a striker. But no matter which team he played for - in the yard, at the factory, or in the army - he was inevitably put in goal.

A collection of several interlinked stories that happen on the New Year's eve...

Slava Kolotilov, a schoolteacher from the town of Palchiki, arrived in Moscow with a manuscript of his novel in hand and met Nadia. Before the wedding, Deputy Trekhgolovich, confused, mistakes Kolotilov for the coach of a children's soccer team. Trekhgolovich confiscates Kolotilov's passport and tears up his ticket to Moscow, while Kolotilov does everything he can to ensure that his hastily assembled team loses so that he can leave for his bride.

Maria returns to the city where her family lives, her friends — those whom she loves more than life, those with whom she was separated for six long years. Mary was convicted of murder. A small town where everyone knows each other, still at a loss: how could a young woman kill her husband? Only Mary herself knows the truth and the price of this tragic event from the past. The long-awaited return home becomes a real test for her.

Christina wants to take revenge on her blind sister, who wants to take a prize in a popular music television show. She comes up with an evil joke in which she gives out a stage play organized by her friends for a real shoot in the Ostankino television studio. The sister believes what they are trying to convince her of, and Christina's rally becomes more and more like a mockery.

Three natives of the former USSR commit a daring robbery of a German bank. Having bagged three hundred thousand euros and taken a bank employee hostage, the bandits set off through Poland to Ukraine. The situation is complicated by the fact that at one of the Polish gas stations they have to take another woman hostage. Now the law enforcement agencies of three countries - Germany, Poland and Ukraine - face a difficult task: neutralizing the criminals without harming the hostages.