"The Brunei match has to be treated as responsibly as the others"

Russian national soccer team players have won the biggest victory in their history. On November 15, they beat Brunei 11-0 in Krasnodar. Many have already criticized the very idea of holding such a control match because of the weakness of the chosen opponent. However, Valeri Karpin's wards had no other options: most of the national teams this fall are already busy in official tournaments. As a result, the match with Brunei was attended by more than 26 thousand spectators.

In this meeting almost no goalkeepers of the Russian national team - Ilya Lantratov played the first half, Stanislav Agkatsev - the second. In an interview with Izvestia, Vitaly Kafanov, the national team goalkeepers' coach, assessed the performance of his wards, explained what was useful for them in this match, and also announced the appearance of the third goalkeeper Alexander Maksimenko for the next match against Syria, which will be held on November 19 in Volgograd.

- Why was it decided to put Ilya Lantratov and Stanislav Agkatsev for the match against Brunei?

- I think it's clear about Agkatsev. Yes?

- To play at his home stadium?

- Yes, because he is the goalkeeper of Krasnodar soccer club. And the Russian national team played the match against Brunei in Krasnodar. We released him for the second half to play in front of his fans. And for the first half we chose between Ilyusha Lantratov and Sasha Maximenko. In the end we chose that Ilyusha played against Brunei, and Sasha will play in Volgograd against Syria. In my opinion, this is a normal choice. For various reasons we could not release three goalkeepers in one match. But we will give Maksimenko playing time with Syria.

- How to evaluate the work of goalkeepers in conditions when Lantratov did not play at all in the first half, and Agkatsev - only a couple of times?

- In any case, we have to be ready for such matches. It doesn't always happen that your goal is constantly attacked by the opponent. But there are situations when the game goes far away from your goal for a long time, but suddenly there is a moment when you have to play reliably, not to make a mistake, to save your team. And you have to keep the utmost concentration all the time, to be ready to do it when your opponent has few chances.

- When Agkatsev had a shot from the center of the field near the end of the match and he had a hard time converting the ball to a corner, did it happen what you are talking about?

- Yes, that's exactly the moment... Frankly speaking, I got a heart flutter from this episode. But it's good that Stas got the ball. Although it wasn't easy. In general, it's difficult to keep concentration in such a match from the first to the last minute, when there are almost no chances at your goal. But Agkatsev kept his concentration, was as focused as possible. And that's why he coped with the moment we are talking about.

- So you can say that the match with Brunei was not for a tick in the goalkeeper's plan?

- Well, how for a tick? Of course, not for a tick. It's still a national team match. No matter who you play against. All the guys are honored to play for the national team. And every match should be taken seriously. When the guys go on the field against teams like Brunei, they have to play as responsibly as with any other opponent. And the goalkeepers as well. Simply and reliably they have to perform. We talked to the players about this: "Don't look at the scoreboard, don't look at who you're playing against, don't look at what the opponent is."

- It turns out that no matter what they say, but the match with Brunei was played for a reason?

- Yes. This is a match of the national team. And the guys took it as seriously as possible. And look how many fans gathered in Krasnodar. So it`s good that we played. I hope to please the fans in Volgograd at the match with Syria.