"In each of the matches we will fight for our points"

Dynamo Makhachkala has become one of the main openings of the current Russian football Championship. For the first time in history, the Dagestani team, which got into the RPL with the smallest budget, won several bright victories in the tournament, including in a recent away match with Spartak Moscow, which was fighting for the gold of the national championship (2:1). Five rounds before the finish of the tournament, Khasanbi Bijiyev's team broke away by 10 points from the direct relegation zone and four points from the transition zone and have a good chance to keep their registration in the elite.

In the next round, they will play at home with Krasnodar, which is leading in the championship, and in May they will host another contender for the championship, Zenit St. Petersburg. In an interview with Izvestia, Ilya Kirsh, defender of the Makhachkala club, shared his opinion on the team's results, spoke about his emotions after being awarded a penalty for his hand in the match with Spartak, which was not realized by Jesus Medina, and also told about his impressions of a March trip to Colombia with the Russian youth national team, after which some players could not for a long time to return home.

— Why is Dynamo Makhachkala moving so confidently out of the transition zone five rounds before the finish of the championship?

— Due to the fact that we fight in every match and try to follow the instructions of the head coach. We don't really care who we play with. I think we can beat any team in this championship. We want to show our fans a good result and win as many matches as possible.

It doesn't always work out, so sometimes there are failures like in the March match against Dynamo Moscow, when we were defeated 4-0. It's hard to say why this happened. Probably because of individual defensive mistakes — we underplayed or ran out of time. Maybe this is why such a debacle is connected. Although we seemed to be tuning in for this match, we were preparing for it, but such defensive flaws are unacceptable. But such games shake up the team and show that we can both fight with everyone and fly away from someone harshly. Therefore, there should be no under-tuning for the remaining matches. If we continue to play, as we did with Dynamo, then we will have few chances to stay in the RPL. And it's good that we improved after that debacle. The team took that defeat correctly and recovered after that.

— Was there a bright away victory over Spartak after that? How did you manage to stop a team that had recently trashed almost everyone?

— I think we just need to keep our concentration as high as possible and not let Spartak accelerate, because they have good performers both in the passes and in the final stages of the attack. Therefore, if we give them as little space as possible and create maximum discomfort for them, then we can see that this team is a little confused about what to do. Therefore, it was probably the most correct option for us. We tried to do all this and eventually succeeded.

— What emotions did you feel when, at the end of the match with Spartak, the referee fixed your play with his hand in the penalty area and awarded a penalty to your team's goal?

— To be honest, when the referee went to look at the VAR before the penalty was awarded, I was very calm, because it seemed to me that even though the ball hit my hand, it was in a natural position. I tried to take my hand away, I didn't go towards the ball with it, on the contrary, I tried to avoid contact. I was sure that there would be no penalty. But when he was installed, he was also calm. For some reason, I was sure that either Tim (Dynamo Makhachkala goalkeeper Timur Magomedov. — Ed.) he will take it, or Medina will miss.

— And how did you react when Medina failed to equalize from the penalty spot?

— Of course, there was joy. There is a football god. He saw that I didn't want to play with my hand, so he rewarded our team for all these efforts.

"I am sure that we will solve the problem of entering the RPL"

Football player of "Ural" Evgeny Markov — about the struggle in the first league, the transfer from "Fakel" and the atmosphere at the match with "Spartak"

— Why do Dynamo Makhachkala have such physical fitness that you are able to outplay the current Spartak in speed and fight for most of the match?

— Secrets can't be revealed, it seems. You should ask our physical training coaches about this. If they share it... But I think they won't want all the teams to run like us (smiles).

— After we gained a foothold outside the transition zone, did it become quieter?

— There was no panic before. And not now. We will look at the table at the end of the season. And now we have all the remaining matches in the championship as finals. We will fight for our points in each of them. I won't say that there is any specific task to be in a certain place, but it is clear that it is necessary to avoid transitional matches and ensure that you keep your place in the RPL as soon as possible. We need to fight for victory in every match and show that a team from the second eight can impose a fight on any opponent.

— You still have to play at home with Krasnodar and Zenit. Is there a special motivation to beat them so that no one can accuse you of taking points from Spartak among the contenders for gold?

— We don't care who accuses us of what. We just want to beat every opponent. Whether it's Zenit, Krasnodar or someone else. We will impose the same struggle on everyone and try to win.

— Will it be difficult to adjust yourself to the Zenit game, knowing that you can deprive him of the championship?

— No, of course not. There is no particularly difficult moment here. You tune in to each match separately. And I don't think I'll have a problem fighting against Zenit. If the team is stronger on the field in most indicators, then it will score its points.

— How many times have you been involved in training with the Zenit main squad?

— Before I went on loan to Rostov, I was often involved in training. I was at the training camp with them. Somewhere near the main train.

— Do you believe that you can still compete for a place at Zenit's base when you return from the Makhachkala lease?

— Yes, of course.

— What did Makhachkala see new in the training process?

— Makhachkala became an interesting new challenge for me, because I was learning to play a little different football. And Dynamo has new requirements, a new scheme. It's hard to get into it right away, so it's not an easy fight for a place in the squad. But I'm trying to get used to it. I hope there is progress already.

Tripled the race: how the RPL leaders conducted the next round

Krasnodar, Zenit and Spartak won difficult victories, CSKA lost important points.

— Do we need to fight and defend more?

"Not that I'm fighting anymore. It's just that there's a greater emphasis on defense, on some small details, helping each other, and being a safety net. And the five-defender scheme is also new to me.

— Dynamo Makhachkala is particularly notable for its high level of martial arts this season. How do you manage it?

— The team itself is charged for this. We have a core that we've been fighting with all season, scored our points, and are in our place right now.

— How is life in Makhachkala?

— There are no special differences with Rostov-on-Don. Makhachkala is an ordinary city, excellent, hospitable.

— Many football players who played for Akhmat in Grozny said that they were told from the very beginning about some rules of conduct on the spot. For example, don't wear T-shirts or short-sleeved shirts. Is there something like this in Makhachkala?

— To be honest, there are quite a lot of tourists in Dagestan. And they're a little more loyal to it. I personally have not come across any such prohibitions and restrictions on how to dress and how to behave. Yes, it is clear that you need to behave carefully and a little more calmly, taking into account the local mentality and culture. But I'm a calm person myself, so I don't have any difficulties with that.

— The March trip of the Russian youth national team to Colombia for friendly matches caused a lot of noise because of the history of return flights. How did you survive all this?

— Everything was especially fun for me, considering that I lost my wallet with money and cards.

— Have you lost a lot?

— No, just a couple thousand rubles. I didn't even exchange them for the local currency there. So the Colombians were a little bit mistaken about who to cut the purse strings from (laughs). Russian bank cards don't work in Colombia, so they basically didn't take anything from my wallet. There was also a driver's license, but my picture on it wouldn't fit anyone either.

— Where was your wallet stolen?

— At the airport. Although it's not a fact that it was stolen. Maybe it's me who's so distracted. I just want to believe that it wasn't me who cut it, but someone else. Especially considering the stereotypes about Colombia. But, of course, I will not draw final conclusions, since there is no evidence.

— Isn't it scary to travel to such places, considering that it was the city of Cali, with its reputation as one of the capitals of Colombian drug cartels?

— Well, we were warned that you can't go everywhere there. They even restricted hotel exits and said it was dangerous to leave. They said that if we were going to go for a walk somewhere, it was better to warn our escorts about it. But we had a hotel in Cali in the same building with a store and a shopping mall. So we just hung around inside. And we didn't really look at anything outside. We only noticed that we were accompanied by the police on all trips to matches and training sessions. Our bus was accompanied by several crews, which means that they consider the city to be quite dangerous and tried to warn us against something.

"The higher our position, the more money, it's good for us"

Shamil Gazizov, General Director of the Dynamo football club (Makhachkala), talks about the financial motivation of the team, the victory over Spartak and Semak's coaching level

— There are stereotypes about Dagestan as not the safest place. Can you compare it as a person living in Makhachkala?

— Dagestan is 100% much safer and more hospitable. You definitely don't need such security to feel safe.

— How long did it take you to get home from Colombia?

— We flew together with Danya Zorin. And together we went through all the embarrassments in this regard. He timed it — it turned out to be 72 hours from departure from the hotel to arrival in Moscow, along with transfers in Bogota and Istanbul. Then I flew to Makhachkala, and Danya flew to Grozny. Probably our longest homecoming. I had to skip the first round after a break for the national team games — I didn't play against CSKA because of that. Unfortunately, there are such moments.

— There were rumors that you had to pay for your tickets home out of your own pocket. If so, did the RFU compensate you for this?

— No, Dania and I didn't have to pay for it ourselves. As far as I know, it was only two of our goalkeepers, Bogdan Moskvichev and Sasha Degtev, who decided to return separately from everyone else. Because they had matches close in date, and they wanted to get back to the clubs as soon as possible. So we decided to fly by ourselves and, as far as I know, we gained quite a lot of time.

— Due to the fact that you have been regularly called up to the Russian youth national team for several years, are you particularly looking forward to its admission to the European Championship qualifiers?

— Of course, I really want to return to the world stage and show how the Russian national team survived this difficult moment for us and prepared. And to prove that we are in good shape and can impose a fight on any opponent.

— Do you believe that this is possible already in 2025?

— To be honest, we start every year with the belief that we will soon be disbanded. With such thoughts, we go to every friendly match, play and prepare for it. We play every match with the intention that we will be playing official matches soon.