"It's better to play against other countries' national teams because you hear the anthem."

Dynamo Moscow footballer Daniil Fomin noted that he always enjoys going to the national team and the last training camp was no exception - he liked everything. In his interview to Izvestia Fomin explained why Dynamo should win such matches as the last unsuccessful game with Fakel, characterized Loko leader Alexey Batrakov and answered the question whether matches against such weak teams as Brunei are necessary.

- Based on the results of the last match against Fakel, what emotions do you feel - satisfaction from the point gained with a lot of chances at your goal or disappointment from the victory lost in the final seconds?

- Of course, when you lead the whole match and concede at the end, it's always frustrating. Yes, Fakel had chances, but in one of the episodes we couldn`t get into the empty net. If we had scored the second goal, it would have been easier. But we can not deny that the opponent had many opportunities for a goal. Therefore, the draw is deserved. The result is fair.

- Until the middle of the first half, Fakel almost did not let you out of your half of the field, but almost not the first Dynamo approach to another team's penalty area ended in a goal after your long-range shot. How did you manage it?

- Yes, it turned out well. I saw that there was a good position for a shot. I tried to shoot into the far corner - I managed to score.

- Don`t you feel that for the new fight for the championship Dynamo lacks such victories as it could be over Fakel - with not the best game, but good realization of chances and selfless fight at their gates?

- In Voronezh we should have won 100% of the games. A team that wants to win the championship must be patient in such games and hold on to the victory when there are only seconds left. To be more precise, not even to be patient, but to score the second or even the third goal. Everything would have ended there - both Fakel's pressure and the intrigue in the match. And we would have won calmly. And so we didn`t score when we could, and any ricochet, any hit in the hand in the penalty area could have ended in a goal or a penalty in our goal. Or a feed from the flank, from which Fakel eventually scored for us. In general, it turned out the way it did. Again, in general, everything was deserved.

- In early October, Dynamo was harshly criticized for the match with CSKA (1:2), when formally we lost with a minimal score, but the Army men could crush you by the number of chances. Why have you not lost for five matches after that?

- I don't know... If you look at the whole season, we've been scoring points more or less consistently. We repeated the record in the number of points for the first round (Dynamo had scored 30 points only in 1996 and 1997. - Ed.). Therefore, I can't say that everything has changed dramatically. Yes, we are not in the top three, but it only means that we need to score more points, because the leaders score even more.

- How do you assess the chances of winning back eight points from the leading Zenit?

- To be honest, I don't look so far into the future. We need to prepare for specific matches, for each upcoming game. We have a tough return match in the Russian Cup against Lokomotiv. Then a tough trip to Grozny to face Akhmat in the championship. We need to win there. And such matches will show our level, our ability to react to offensive losses of points, as in Voronezh. When you play well and win, it's normal, acceptable. And when you play badly but win - it is an indicator that you can solve big problems. These are the teams that fight for the first places and constantly go to the top of the table. Look how Zenit won this round. There was a tough match with Orenburg, which was heading for a draw, but Peter scored the winning goal in the final seconds (1-0). That's how we have to win when we don't show our best soccer if we want to fight for gold. And we should have won against Fakel like that. Yes, in the final seconds the score was not 0:0, but 1:0. But still it was necessary to keep this result, and even better to realize the few chances we had. And due to this move up, get closer to the leaders.

- Before your match with Lokomotiv, I'd like to ask about their leader Alexey Batrakov, with whom you recently met for the first time in the Russian national team. Why does he keep Loko in the top three and fight for leadership among the top scorers of the championship at the age of 19?

- We met him in the national team. He's a great guy. He is talented in soccer. In general, it was super to communicate with him - a very adequate person both on the field and off it. I think this is the reason for such successes.

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- How do you evaluate the last training camp with the national team?

- I always enjoy going to the national team. And this training camp is no exception - I liked everything.

- You were in the reserve for the match against Brunei. Was it worth it to play this match?

- Of course, I want stronger opponents than Brunei.... But I completely agree with Valeri Karpin that it is better to play with the national teams of other countries. Because before the match you hear the anthem playing. Fans come to watch you - we saw how many people came to see Brunei in Krasnodar and Syria in Volgograd. Tens of thousands of people. If people are interested in it, it means that we do not gather and play for nothing.

- How do you feel about the calls to play against clubs or media teams instead of weak national teams like Brunei?

- I repeat, it is better to play against national teams of other countries, to hear the anthem of your country before the match. And if you make a show out of all this, as in the case of matches against media teams, it is better to do it separately from the national team.

- How did the match against Brunei look from the bench?

- Great. I can't even add anything else here.

- Didn`t your heart twinge when Brunei almost scored with a shot from the center of the field? Andrei Mostovoi said that it would have been comical if the goal had happened in our goal.

- I think nothing would have changed from that. 11:0 or 11:1 - there is no big difference. In every match there is a chance to score. And any team has a chance to do it. Some unpredictable ricochet and a goal comes out of nothing. So I would not exaggerate this story. The main thing is that we scored quite a lot. And the goal in our goal did not happen in the end - Stas Agkatsev did well, he oriented himself and kicked the ball in that episode.

- How do you evaluate the game with Syria?

- Well, this team is stronger than Brunei - everything is obvious. And it was felt on the pitch. The difference in levels is serious. And the FIFA rating also shows it. But we seriously prepared for this opponent. And I think we prepared well, since we defeated them.

- What made it possible to completely outplay them?

- I think due to the fact that we approached the match responsibly and concentrated. There was no relaxation. Plus the atmosphere at the stadium and the very feeling of putting on the national team shirt... All this together allowed us to show a good game and result. We were maximally focused on success. We tried to show what the coaches demanded from us. And we deservedly won.

- The match with Brunei was the first time when the Russian national team after February 2022 came to the city where air transportation is closed. Was the trip to Krasnodar hard?

- No, it's not the first time we have made such trips. It's not the first season we go to away matches with "Krasnodar", "Rostov" and "Fakel" by train. And these teams travel to other teams even more often. So there is nothing difficult to go there as a member of the national team. Especially I myself am from the Krasnodar region, I was glad to visit my native region and play there for the national team. I repeat: you saw how many fans came to Brunei in Krasnodar (more than 26 thousand - Ed.). It was worth coming for that!