"Akhmat needs five or six transfers in the summer to compete for top spots"

Russian national team players scored an away victory over Belarus. Our team won in Minsk with a score of 4:1. The defender of the Grozny "Akhmat" Turpal-Ali Ibishev spent the entire second half with the Russians, for whom this is the second match for the national team — in March, a 23-year-old native of Achkhoy-Martan came on as a substitute in the middle of the second half of the match with Grenada.

In an interview with Izvestia, Ibishev shared his impressions of the match for the national team, spoke about the difficult end of the season for Akhmat, which at the end of May only followed the results of the transition matches with Ural Yekaterinburg." (1:2; 2:0) he avoided relegation from the RPL, and also explained what his club needed, to improve the results in the next round of the Russian championship.

— How do you like the game with Belarus?

— In general, I will say that the game went very well. I think we deserved to win. All the guys in our team fought from the first to the last minute, hence the result of the match — Russia's victory with a big score.

— Have you already got used to your status as a national team player, considering that you played the second match for them in the last three months?

— Yes, I already had an appearance against Grenada in March. Now I went on the field for the second time and played against Belarus. And as for the second appearance on the field as part of the national team, I can say that I have already got used to playing for it. Of course, there is always something to strive for. But the main thing is that we were able to win with a big score and played good football. You can end the season in a good mood and start preparing for the next one soon.

— Was it emotionally difficult to go to the national team after such a nervous end to the season with Akhmat, when only after the results of the transition matches did they escape relegation from the RPL?

— Yes, there was a bit of tension in our team because of the whole situation. To be honest, it was a very emotional ending with Akhmat in the championship. It's good that we were able to stay in the RPL, but for some time there was a slight emasculation from such a difficult struggle for survival. But I came to the national team, trained for a few days, took the field in Minsk — I think after this match with Belarus, my tension went away. Therefore, with renewed vigor, I will be able to prepare with Akhmat for the new season, when the team starts training.

— What do you attribute the difficulties of Akhmat at the end of the season to?

— It's hard to say, nothing foreshadowed this, because we had a long unbeaten streak, the first eight matches in the spring, everything was going well. We didn't lose. The only shame is that we won only two games — the rest were drawn. Because of this, during a win-win streak, they were unable to make a breakthrough from the joint zone. And then it went on and on - to be honest, I can't say what it's related to.

— How do you explain the fact that despite all the difficulties of Akhmat, his players are still being called up to the national team at the end of the season — besides you, Arsen Adamov and Lechi Sadulaev, who played against Belarus and Nigeria earlier, were also called up in June?

— I think Karpin is watching all the players of every club in our championship. He watches how he plays in a specific period of time, evaluates his readiness and calls for it. It's good that he pays attention not only to the teams from the leading group, but also to those who are fighting for survival, as was the case with Akhmat this spring. He wants to test all the players at the national team level. And I want to thank him for paying attention to us.

— What should Akhmat do to improve next season and fight for places at the top of the standings?

— In my opinion, transfers are needed first. Our pre-season training camp starts on the 16th. Let's see if there will be newbies by this time. But I think the team will strengthen.

— Do you need a lot of transfers?

— I think about five or six players need to be reinforced to the ones we already have.

— Do you believe that you will play for the Russian national team in an official match when it returns to international competitions?

— I don't want to throw words around. Time will show. Over time, we'll see if we can play in an official match for the national team.