Goalkeeper's castling: Safonov is ready to play for the national team again

The Russian national team continues to prepare for the June friendly matches. In a few days, on Friday, June 6, Valery Karpin's team will face a test in the face of the Nigerian team. The day before, the Nigerian national team published the current squad that will take part in the game with Russia. Sevilla striker Kelechi Iheanacho and Milan midfielder Samuel Chukwuese will miss the match due to family reasons. Also, Leicester midfielder Wilfred Ndidi will not fly to Russia due to injury. Meanwhile, Matvey Safonov joined the Russian national team.

A year later

Wednesday started early for Valery Karpin's team. On Monday, the goalkeeper coach of the Russian national team, Vitaly Kafanov, stated that the team was awaiting Matvey Safonov's decision on whether he would take part in the game with Nigeria. A short vacation, difficult logistics, and the need to quickly switch from club affairs to national teams — none of this prevented Matvey Safonov from flying to Moscow.

At five in the morning, the winner of the Champions League as part of PSG arrived at Sheremetyevo, where he was already met by the national team staff with a copy of the main European Cup. This came as a surprise to Matvey himself, who had not expected this. And the media team of the Russian national team later said that she wanted to surprise and please the Russian champion.

Very soon, Matvey Safonov arrived at the base of the Russian national team in Novogorsk, but missed the morning training session. The press service of the national team explained the absence of the goalkeeper.

— Matvey is undergoing a routine medical examination. He will start training in the evening with the goalkeepers," the press service of the Russian national team reported.

The morning training session of the national team, which was attended by journalists, was held in full force. The Rostov and CSKA players, who played in the Russian Cup Superfinal on Sunday, also worked well. The only one missing was Krasnodar goalkeeper Stanislav Agkatsev, who had left the national team.:

— The goalkeeper arrived at the national team with a slight discomfort of an overload nature, — the press service reported. — Together with the medical management of the club, the coaching and medical staff of the national team, it was decided not to risk the player's health and continue his recovery in the conditions of the club.

After completing a medical examination, which showed that Matvey Safonov was completely healthy, the PSG goalkeeper went to the reporters and answered questions in detail. Matvey greeted the waiting correspondents politely and smiled. It was obvious that he missed Russia and the Russian language. Safonov later confirmed this himself.

— I'm happy to return to Russia, I haven't been here for a year. I was met by the guys from the national team at the airport, and the celebration continues after the Champions League. He left last summer. I spent the whole season in France, playing, playing. So a year has passed, I wanted to come back," Safonov said.

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From the first minutes

This time, no external factors influenced Matvey's arrival in Moscow. According to the player, PSG did not object, but on the contrary, prompted Matvey to look for playing practice, which he needed so much. No financial and family disputes also prevented Safonov.

"Someone wanted financial disputes to get in my way,— continued the PSG goalkeeper. — But I got out of the situation pretty well. I'm fine with psychology, this is life, this is the way. I've always said that I don't shy away from alimony. My alimony case is over. I look forward to being with my child.

The experience of communicating with the French media influenced Matvey Safonov. He admits that all the players there are under a lot of pressure from journalists, it is necessary to choose the words, to understand — every phrase can be taken out of context. It also helped Matvey to answer the pressing questions of his Russian colleagues. On the evening of June 3, it was reported that Matvey Safonov may leave PSG after the transfer of Ukrainian defender Ilya Zabarny to Bournemouth. Safonov commented on this carefully, but quite specifically.

— You should not believe the media, you know yourself. You only need to believe the information provided by the club. We need to pay attention only to official statements," said the goalkeeper of the Russian national team.

With a high degree of probability, Matvey Safonov will come out from the first minutes for the match with Nigeria. We are waiting for a serious test both for the goalkeeper himself and for the entire team of Valery Karpin, who has not missed eight matches in a row.

Our national team was stronger than Cuba (8:0), Serbia (4:0), Belarus (4:0), Vietnam (3:0), Brunei (11:0), Syria (4:0), Grenada (5:0) and Zambia (5:0). The unbeaten streak now stands at 11 games and includes only two draws, both on the road, with Qatar (1-1) and Kenya (2-2).

The Nigerian national team has not lost for a long time either — the series has six matches. We played two friendly games with Ghana in December. (0:0, 3:1), In March, they defeated Rwanda (2:0) and drew with Zimbabwe (1:1) in the 2026 World Cup qualification, and in May they beat Ghana (2:1) and Jamaica in the unofficial Unity Cup (2:2, on penalties 5:4).