"The national team has to play with the national team."

On November 19, the Russian national team players will close the year with a friendly match against Syria, which will be held in Volgograd. Last week, they won the biggest victory in their history in Krasnodar, defeating Brunei 11-0. This match was criticized by a part of the soccer community, which considered it inappropriate for the Russian Football Union (RFU) to want to organize games between the national team and other national teams at any cost, even if they are very weak in terms of level, like Brunei, which ranks 184th out of 211 in the FIFA ranking.

In an interview with Izvestia, Russian national team defender Danil Krugovoy shared his impressions of the last game, explained why such matches are necessary, sympathized with his team's goalkeeper Ilya Lantratov, who played the first half against Brunei and never entered the game, and also told what opponent he would like to play against next year and under what conditions the national team should play against teams from the Medialiga.

- Have you had easier opponents than the Brunei national team in your career?

- No, it hasn't been easier. I had the most difficult match in Vietnam this fall in terms of conditions (laughs). Then because of the high humidity it was hard to breathe and my legs were cramped. But with Brunei I felt more or less normal in this respect. The main thing is that we won, and with a big score. Although, perhaps, it was not the most important thing. The key task was to show a good game, create chances and score from them. And not to concede - this, perhaps, is the most important. In general, we played a good match. I think everyone is satisfied, including the fans - both those who came to the stadium in Krasnodar and those who watched the match on TV. Still, there were a lot of chances, so it wasn't boring. Of course, someone will say that the opponent was weak... But that's what it is.

- Were there weaker teams in your sparring matches at least in the control matches at the preseason training camp?

- No, probably not... Maybe Zenit only played with such not very strong opponents at the first training camp. Somehow in Qatar we had some such teams....

- Can you personally single out any of the Brunei players? Has anyone impressed you?

- No, of course not. We played our own game. We didn't even look at the guys from Brunei. They were almost without the ball all the time - 90% of the time they didn't possess it. So there's no one to single out.

- Did you set a goal to break the record by winning with the largest score in the history of the Russian national team?

- Well, we've heard what the biggest score used to be. They told us in the team how the San Marino team was defeated 9:0. In any case, we tried to score as many goals as possible. We scored 11 - good. We could have scored even more. But we scored as many as we scored. I don`t pay much attention to the score, but it`s nice that we were able to score so much.

- Was it a pity for goalkeepers Ilya Lantratov and Stanislav Agkatsev that the first of them was not working at all in the first half, and the second only once entered the game when he was shot from the center of the field?

- Lantratov was really pitiful. And Agkatsev still had a good moment - the Bruneians checked him (smiles). Well done for coping with it.

- He also ran to the middle of the field to stop the fan who ran out of the stands.

- Yes, apparently, he was looking for something to do (laughs). Honestly, I do not know why he ran. But after all, he is a pupil of Krasnodar, he played at his stadium. Maybe he decided to try to calm down his fans.

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

Vitaly Kafanov, goalkeepers coach of the Russian national team, talks about the biggest victory of the national team, the meeting with one of the weakest opponents and the performance of the goalkeepers

- Do not regret that for the sake of such a match you traveled a long way to Krasnodar, where nowadays you can not fly directly by airplane?

- No, I have repeatedly said that playing for the national team is a great honor. In any city, against any team, whatever the RFU finds. So whoever they tell us to play with, we will play with. Sooner or later we will be back in official international competitions anyway. So we are waiting. In the meantime, we play with those with whom the RFU manages to reach an agreement.

- Brunei have only six main players for the match with you. In particular, the main goalkeeper didn't make it to Krasnodar because of his wedding. What would you choose in his place: a wedding or a national team match?

- Well, I would talk to the coaching staff. I think they would let me go. I remember when I was organizing my wedding. And I realized that organizing is the hardest part. Because everything is busy there all the time, and I have almost no free dates at the right moment (smiles). But nothing, we found a day to organize everything. It didn't coincide with the national team or club matches. Only trainings were on this date.

- The upcoming match against Syria will be the last for the Russian national team in 2024. What results of the year can you summarize for the national team?

- I believe that we played decently in all matches regardless of the opponents. We won all the games, we didn't concede. The most important thing is that we won against Serbia (4:0), Belarus (4:0), Vietnam (4:0) and now Brunei. This is important. After all, the FIFA ranking is still there - and we need to gain points there. We are gaining them, keeping ourselves in a good place (35th. - Ed.). And we keep ourselves in tone.

- What are your wishes for next year for the national team?

- To return to international tournaments, of course.

- What opponents do you want to see?

- Well, I don't know what to say here... It's hard to predict anything in advance. The Russian youth national team is playing in Brazil with local teams, and has traveled there before. It also played with Uruguay.

- Do you also want to play with Brazilians?

- Why not? We can try. If there was such an opportunity... But I don't think there won't be.

- When you return to CSKA, will you persuade Miralem Pjanic to make an agreement with Bosnia to play against Russia?

- We'll see.

- Even after the match with Vietnam, there was a debate in the soccer community as to whether the RFU should cling to any chance to play the national team, even if it's a Brunei-level opponent. Many have criticized for this match and called for the Russian national team to organize games against Medialiga teams or professional clubs. Now that the match with Brunei has taken place, which option are you in favor of?

- I once said that it would be nice to play with Medialiga, if there is no one to play with at all. Why not? But if there is a possibility, we can also play Brunei. It is clear that the level of this team is different. But the national team should play with the national team.