"We get confidence from Rakhimov, that's why we are steadily gaining points"

Rubin Kazan are confidently in the top half of the Russian league table this season, sitting in seventh place after the 16th round. Rashid Rakhimov's wards are nine points away from the zone of transition matches. This week, the team from Tatarstan crashed out of the Russian Cup's RPL Way. After a 0-0 home draw in the first match, it was defeated away by CSKA Moscow (0:3) in the return game and fell into the "Way of the Regions".

In an interview with Izvestia, Rubin's Uzbek midfielder Umarali Rakhmonaliev commented on the team's results, spoke about the October rumors of head coach Rashid Rakhimov's resignation and shared his impressions of his compatriot Abbosbek Faizullayev playing for CSKA.

- "Rubin" this season plays well in defense, few conceding. Why didn't they perform as reliably against CSKA?

- I wouldn't say that we failed. Yes, we played poorly in the first half, but it was more due to the fact that we made two or three mistakes. And CSKA realized their chances after them. But those were individual mistakes - in general, I wouldn't say that we played poorly on defense. The rest of the time we played correctly. But the goals after those mistakes put us in a difficult position.

- Don't you feel that you were hurt by the poor realization of chances in the first match, where you played with CSKA 0-0, but could have won and gone to Moscow with an advantage?

- I don`t want to remember that match. We tried to play as well as possible in the return game and go further. But we were unlucky: CSKA scored three goals in the first half because of our own mistakes. And it was already hard for Rubin to get back. Although we came out for the second half. And I think we played well. But closer to the attack we failed to play aggressively enough, so we failed to score.

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- Can we expect that the next match with CSKA, already in the championship, will be different in your performance?

- I can say that we'll have to do better in the transition phase from defense to attack. We'll keep improving, and I think we'll do well.

- Your compatriot Abbosbek Faizullayev has become one of the main stars in CSKA. Are you surprised at how quickly he became the leader of his team in a year and a half in the RPL?

- No, I am not surprised. We have known him for a long time, since childhood. I often played at the youth level against him. And then I played with him in the national team. He is a good guy and a very good soccer player with excellent technique. That is what he shows in CSKA. So I'm not surprised by his success.

- Many believe that he won't be in the RPL for long, and soon Abbosbek will go to one of the top European championships. In your opinion, which league is suitable for him?

- Allah willing, he will play there. But where, we can not say in advance. So let's not get ahead of ourselves, brother!

- Do you expect to get closer to the leading group in the RPL?

- We will try. 100% we will try to perform as well as possible this season and go as high as possible.

- Did October rumors about Rashid Rakhimov's resignation have any influence on the team?

- It had no influence at all. I don`t even want to talk about it. This is not our business. The main thing is that everything is good in the team. Everyone is working.

- Why did Rubin continued to win steadily against the background of these rumors?

- Because the confidence of players depends on the coach. We get this confidence from Rakhimov and that's why we are steadily gaining points.