Team Spirit's Toy Frog Coach: How Zhab Zhabyich Becme the Symbol of IEM Cologne Major 2026 in CS2

From June 2 to June 21, 2026, the IEM Cologne Major 2026 for CS2 is taking place in Cologne, Germany. At the second stage of the tournament, Team Spirit entered the matches without full-time coaches: Sergey “hally” Shavaev missed the competition for health reasons, and Dmitry “S0tF1k” Forostyanko, who was supposed to replace him, was unable to obtain a visa. The rules did not allow attracting another specialist - the coach’s place in the playing area was taken by Zhab Zhabych, a plush frog in headphones. Team player Danil “donk” Kryshkovets introduced Zhabych in his Telegram channel, ironically calling him the new coach of the team. The toy was brought into the arena, sat next to the players and headphones were put on it. During the matches, Zhab Zhabych appeared live with a sheet of tacti