"The victory over Spartak was greatly influenced by Yatimov's rescue"

Rostov's players sensationally reached the superfinal of the Russian Cup. Last week, they defeated Spartak Moscow (2-1) in the final of the Path of the Regions. Now the yellow-blues can win their first major title since 2014, when they also won the Russian Cup. In the current draw, the decisive match will be held on June 1 in Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium, where Rostov will play with the capital CSKA. In an interview with Izvestia, the goalkeeper coach of the Don club, Vitaly Kafanov, appreciated the performance of his team's goalkeeper, Rustam Yatimov, in the match against Spartak and commented on the performance of his colleague from CSKA Vladislav Torop.

— Was the match with Spartak particularly difficult for Yatimov?

— The opponent threw a lot of shots at our goal. There was a one-on-one exit, and a double blow when Yatimov first saved once, and then saved after finishing off a Spartak player. This double kick was the key in the match, when Rustam did not allow his opponent to score. He hit two beats in a row — in two beats or two tempos, as they say in our country. He took the second blow completely. And going out one—on-one was also important - the rescue from him inspired us a lot. When Spartak didn't score in those episodes, we had confidence that we could win.

— In November, Rostov already defeated Spartak in the Cup (1:0; 2:1), following the results of two matches, knocking him out of the "RPL Path". Is the last match anything like those two?

— These games were similar. They look very similar to me. We defended more in these matches. We defended well and looked for chances at someone else's goal. Spartak's players are individually stronger than ours. Their attack group is very strong. Therefore, it was necessary to neutralize their attacking potential first. We succeeded, and only then were we able to use our moments ahead. That was the case in the November matches. And that's how it happened now.

"We want to enter the RPL directly and not bring it to the transition matches"

Torpedo football player Sergey Borodin — about the last round of the championship in the first league, the chances of getting into the Premier League and the possible championship of Krasnodar

— A year ago, Rostov, as now, was in the middle of the standings, having no chance of medals and having solved the issues of retaining a place in the RPL. But Valery Karpin fielded a reserve team in the Russian Cup against Baltika, and your team was eliminated from the tournament (0:1) at one of the last stages. This year, in a similar situation, Jonathan Alba set up the foundation. How do these two stories differ and how were the composition decisions made in both cases?

— This is a question for Valery Georgievich and Jonathan Alba.

— What do you need to do to beat CSKA in the Russian Cup superfinal?

— We are currently focused on completing the Russian Championship draw. As soon as we play in the 30th round against Dynamo Makhachkala, we will start preparing for the decisive Cup match. But in general, I can say that it is necessary to play against CSKA in the most organized manner and with the highest dedication. The Army team has a very strong team, performing well this spring. So at the end of the championship, the coaching staff will analyze this opponent in great detail.

"The next match against Fakel will be the game of the year for us"

Football player of Pari Nizhny Novgorod Alexander Troshechkin — about the struggle for survival in the RPL, his return to the main squad, possible involvement in transitional matches and the situation at Khimki

— The performance of CSKA goalkeeper Vladislav Torop is impressive, who pulled off a penalty shootout for the team in the second leg of the final of the "RPL Path"." (0:2; 2:0, 4:3 on penalties)?

— He pulled this little final for CSKA. He is a talented young goalkeeper who has been performing well for several years now. And he has a great future. I got to know him when the youth national team was gathering. His career is starting successfully, and the prospects are good. Hasp stands out for his psychology and stress tolerance — this is the most important thing for a goalkeeper. In addition, he was lucky to train alongside such an outstanding goalkeeper as Igor Akinfeev, and under such a wonderful goalkeeper coach as Dmitry Kramarenko.

I do not know what the CSKA coaching staff will decide on the squad for the match with us — whether they will release Igor, who is having a good season, or Slava. But we just won't be with any of them.