"Would have continued to play with national teams rather than medialiga"

The last two weeks have been very busy for Rostov's coaching staff and key players. Head coach Valery Karpin and his assistants Viktor Onopko and Vitaly Kafanov, who combine their posts with work in the Russian national team, played two friendly matches at the head of the national team - in Krasnodar with Brunei (11:0) and in Volgograd with Syria (4:0). Rostov's leaders - defender Maxim Osipenko and midfielder Danil Glebov - were in reserve for the match against Brunei and played the entire match against Syria, three days after which they won a 2-1 away victory over CSKA Moscow in the Russian championship.

Now the Don club will have to face Spartak Moscow at home in the Russian Cup quarterfinals. The first meeting was won 1:0 away, so on November 27 Rostov team can go further, sending the Red-Whites to the Way of the Regions. In an interview with Izvestia, Rostov captain Danil Glebov shared his impressions of the November matches of the national team, expressed his opinion whether it is worth playing against such a weak team as Brunei, expressed confidence that the national team will still play in Rostov-on-Don, and also assessed the current results of his club in the championship and the Cup of the country.

- How would you assess the recent two matches of the Russian national team against Brunei and Syria?

- I wouldn't draw any global conclusions. In general, we had a good training camp, we trained well, we played well in both matches. We were attentive on the field, with maximum concentration. We tried to do everything that the coaching staff told us, what we practiced in preparation for the games. We can be satisfied with the way everything went.

- Did the match with Syria stand out from other fall games of the national team?

- It's hard to compare it with Vietnam. And let's not do that. There is nothing to say about Brunei - even a non-soccer person understands that Syria is stronger against this opponent. Therefore, it is especially pleasant that we beat them with a big score and played a quality match.

- I was surprised not even by the score 4-0, but by the fact that in addition to the goals you failed to realize a lot of chances and gave almost nothing to the team, which was expected to put up some resistance against Brunei. Was it you who were so good or were the Syrians weaker than expected?

- I still think it was us who prepared well. The coaching staff gave us instructions on what to do. We tried to fulfill it, so we had chances. It is a pity that in the first half we did not realize many of them. Otherwise we could have gone to the break with a better score than 1:0.

- Now that the match with Brunei has been played, can you say whether it was worth it at all?

- Well, what options do we have? Do we have team options?

- The hackneyed argument of opponents of such matches: we should play with RPL clubs or media teams.

- Valeriy G. Karpin, I think, has already answered that if we play with clubs, he will not give his permission. I personally find it hard to answer this question, but if there is an opportunity to play with the national teams, I would try to use it.

- The coaching staff of the Russian national team and Rostov did an interesting thing: after the match with Brunei, they let Igor Diveyev go back to CSKA, but kept Rostov players - you and Maxim Osipenko - in the national team, and you played the entire match against Syria. Rostov had a game with CSKA three days later. It turned out that Karpin gave the opponent to work longer with his player before the match, and you had less rest.

- I don`t know what happened with Diveyev. Maybe Igor felt discomfort or some other problems, so he was released back to the club. Usually Valeriy Georgievich treats such situations with understanding. That's why Igor was released.

- The match with Brunei was held in Krasnodar, a city where air transportation is closed after February 2022. It was the first time the RFU brought the Russian national team to such a region. Would you like a similar game to be held in Rostov-on-Don, where you can't fly to either?

- Valeriy Georgievich said that the original plan was to play against Syria in Rostov-on-Don, not Volgograd. I think that the people who organize matches of the national team understand everything. And eventually they will bring the national team to our city.

Last Syria: how the Russian national team played its final match of the year

Our players won a difficult victory over a team from the Middle East

- It is believed that only opponents of Brunei level can be persuaded to come to Krasnodar or Rostov-on-Don by train. Are you ready to play with such a team again so that the fans of your club could see the national team in their city?

- Great question (laughs). I don't know.

- Rostov had a difficult September and October, seven matches without wins in the championship. After the recent successes, can we say that the crisis is finally overcome?

- We'll see. In principle, we had not such a bad stretch after the October break for the national team games in general and before the victories. We lost one match to Akhmat (1:2). And so we drew away with Nizhny (1:1), with Dynamo Moscow we also scored one point away (1:1). And then came the victories - in the Cup over Spartak (1-0), in the championship over Khimki (3-1) and CSKA (2-1). Globally, we're having a good period now. But the most important thing is that we understand what we can win with, what we can score points with. And there is nothing critical, so we can still perform well this season.

- There was no panic when we were close to the zone of transition matches?

- We never have any panic. We always work at the limit of our abilities, we try to make the most out of the situation in any match and score points.

- Are you particularly motivated for the upcoming return cup match with Spartak?

- Every tournament is important for us - both the Russian Cup and the Russian championship. We went to CSKA Moscow in the championship for a victory and achieved it. Now we are also going home for a victory over Spartak in the Cup. We achieved victory in the first away game. And we believe that we are capable of achieving a victory at home, thus achieving further progress.