"The Malians were on the defensive, but we still created chances."

The Russian national team played its first two matches in 2026. First, Valery Karpin's team won in Krasnodar against Nicaragua with a score of 3:1, and then in St. Petersburg they drew with Mali (0:0). The lack of victory in the second game was especially unexpected against the background of the fact that the African national team did not play with the strongest squad: Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Yves Bissouma, French Lance midfielders Mamadou Sangare and Amadou Aidara and several other players from major European championships did not arrive in St. Petersburg.

The match with Mali was fully played by the defender of the Moscow "Locomotive" Alexander Silyanov. In an interview with Izvestia, the 25-year-old football player assessed the past matches, spoke about the reaction of the head coach of the national team, Valery Karpin, to a goalless draw and explained why he did not consider such a result a failure.

— What do you attribute this result to in the match against Mali?

— With our goals not scored, with our unrealized chances.

— Can you call it a tough failure, considering that we didn't beat Mali, which came with a non-core team?

- no. Why is this a hard failure? We tried to win. Their team was on the defensive, but even in these conditions we created chances. We just didn't score a penalty. And we were unlucky from the game — we hit the post or missed the goal.

— So you think the whole point is that Mali defended with the whole team, locked herself in her own half of the field?

- yes. It was hard to open their defenses when all the players were involved. People get up in their penalty area with the whole team, they leave you a minimum of space. But even in these conditions, we created chances and earned penalties. I think we didn't manage to win because we didn't realize our chances.

— Was it unexpected for you to encounter such resistance from two opponents in the March matches? It is clear that Nicaragua is above the level of Brunei, but did you expect a more confident victory?

— Such resistance was not expected from Nicaragua, it's true. And they expected from Mali. We knew that they had never conceded more than one goal per match in official games since 2024. So we are not surprised by their resistance.

— But these statistics were obtained by the optimal team, and not by the one who played against you in St. Petersburg.

— Yes, that's right. But I can't say that the squad that came out against us is weak. Their defender Gassama from Baltika is a very good football player, I know him well from playing in the RPL. And the other guys did well too. They should not be underestimated. A strong, powerful team that defends well with the whole squad, with a low block. It was hard because of that.

— The RFU posted on social networks a video from the locker room of the Russian national team, where after the match with Nicaragua, Valery Karpin harshly scolded the team with profanity. Was there anything like that after the match against Mali?

— No, there was nothing like that after the match with Mali. Valery Georgievich came into the locker room and said that we were doing well, in the first half the opponent created almost nothing at our goal, we just need to realize our chances, as it was with the penalty and the shot on the post. In the second half, we also approached Mali's goal well, but at the end of the game, maybe we were a little tired, it was already a bit difficult. But the head coach praised us for our dedication.

— Did the way Karpin scolded you after the game with Nicaragua have any emotional impact on you?

— It was probably not the form that influenced him, but the essence of what he said. Valery Georgievich said that it would be even worse with Mali, the resistance would be even higher than with Nicaragua. And that we need to be prepared for this.

— Four days before the match with Nicaragua, you trained in Krasnodar with Matvey Safonov, with whom you first crossed paths as the main goalkeeper of PSG. Has he somehow changed in terms of play and psychology compared to the times when he was in reserve, first under Gianluigi Donnarumma, and then under Luc Chevalier?

— To be honest, I didn't notice anything like that. It was the same Matthew as before. He was always fine, so nothing has changed. At least, I didn't notice. But I don't talk to him much in the national team, so you'd better ask the other guys that question.

— In the match against Mali, five Lokomotiv field players entered the field. How will this affect their readiness for the derby with Spartak in the Russian championship, which is already four days after the national team's game?

"I don't know. As we saw, it had a bad effect on CSKA in the fall. On us… I don't know. When we play for the club after a break for the national team, sometimes we play well, like in the October derby with CSKA (3-0), sometimes not very well. I hope everything will be fine now. I just wouldn't dwell on it.

— Wasn't it a shame to be eliminated from the Russian Cup in this regard? So after the national team and the Spartak derby, we would have played with the Army in the Cup. Maybe it would work again, like in October?

— What if they would have turned it around? No one knows. So no, that's not why it's a shame to be eliminated from the Cup - it's bad in itself, because we really wanted to compete for the trophy.