"Jikiya is a reinforcement for our team"

There are less than three weeks left before the start of the new Russian Football Championship draw. The clubs are already entering a crucial part of the preparation for the season. Among them is the Moscow "Locomotive", which won the bronze medals of the national championship in the spring. In an interview with Izvestia, Evgeny Morozov, defender of the Railwaymen, spoke about the training camp, commented on the appearance of Georgy Dzhikiya in the team and spoke about the performance of his club partner, captain of the Mexican national team Cesar Montes, at the World Cup.

— How are you preparing for the season?

— With a very good one. I want to get through the training camp as well as possible in order to be as ready as possible for the new season. I, like the other Lokomotiv players who played for the Russian national team in the June matches against Burkina Faso and Trinidad and Tobago, came out of vacation later than the others. During my absence, I missed the guys and the team. Therefore, I came to the training camp with great pleasure and started working.

— Where did you spend your vacation?

— I had a rest for 10 days, I went to Turkey with my girlfriend, I was there with Mitryukha (Anton Mitryushkin, goalkeeper and captain of Lokomotiv. — Ed.) and his family. After that, we returned to Moscow, and before the training camp, I began to train on my own in order to return to the team in good shape.

— How did you react to the signing of Georgy Dzhikiya by Lokomotiv, which should add competition in the center of defense?

— Competition is always great. It gives a certain growth. Plus Jikiya is a very experienced football player. It can help you somewhere, give you a hint. I think it's a boost for our team.

— Have you watched Cesar Montes play for the Mexican national team at the World Cup?

— Yes, I didn't see all the matches of the Mexican national team, but I watched some of them. I am very happy for him, for the fact that the team with him confidently got out of the group and goes on to the World Cup.

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— What do you think about the episode with his removal in the opening match of the World Cup against South Africa? Did you expect him to get a red card out of the blue with the score 2-0 at the end of an almost won match?

"It's okay. There are such moments in football. This can happen to any player. In my opinion, there was no reinforced concrete red card in that episode at all. For me, the yellow one could have been enough. But it just so happened — the judge made such a decision.

— Wasn't it too rash of Montes to go to that junction at all, when nothing really threatened the gates of Mexico?

— Come on, there was nothing hard there. I repeat, I don't think it was worth deleting at all. So I wouldn't really focus on that episode. Moreover, when Montes served his suspension, the coaching staff of the Mexican national team returned him to the main squad. Cesar plays the rest of the matches at the World Cup, he is the captain of his national team — a great job.

— What do you expect from the new season?

— We want to perform as well as possible. We are preparing for the start with all our might, we want to be as high as possible, to please our fans with the game and the results. I don't want to make any predictions, but we will do everything to have a good season.

— What needs to be done to surpass the third place we took at the end of the last championship?

— Train as much as possible (smiles).

— Didn't you train enough last season?

— No, it's not enough. But we need even more.