"Because of a clash with Kasintura, I changed my hairstyle"

The players of Rubin Kazan went on a winter break in the Russian championship in seventh place after 18 rounds. At the same time, Rashid Rakhimov's team won only one victory in the last seven RPL matches, and were eliminated from the Russian Cup. In an interview with Izvestia, Rubin defender Konstantin Nizhegorodov shared his impressions of the past stretch of the season, explained why he decided to change his image, and also recalled how his father Gennady Nizhegorodov and uncle Ilya Tsymbalar played in the Champions League against Real Madrid.

— How would you rate Rubin's results in the first part of the season?

"Ten!" Ten! (Laughs).

"Really?"

— Well, seriously, I don't know how to evaluate these moments, how to evaluate such large segments. We go from game to game, and I can only evaluate individual matches according to the principle of "won – lost, lost – won." And more detailed estimates... I don't do such things — let the experts evaluate us.

— Are the results of Rubin annoying? After all, since the beginning of October, there has been only one victory in seven rounds of the Russian championship, and there has also been a relegation from the Cup.

— We're not playing against a national team, it's not clear who. We are playing against qualified players. It's clear that we have a desire to play good football and win. But we are playing against very strong teams. Sometimes they compete with us, but something doesn't work out for us. Sometimes we try to impose our game on the opponent, and something doesn't work out. In any case, we try to play to the best of our abilities.

— But isn't it a shame to lose points with teams from the bottom of the table — for example, with Pari Nizhny Novgorod, with whom you had a draw in November (0-0)?

— Of course, it's a shame when you don't get enough points, when you lose them. But this is football, it happens. No one is immune from such misfires.

"The teams from the bottom of the RPL table are making the most of themselves"

Rubin football player Oleg Ivanov — about losing points in games with outsiders, the performance of Mirlinda Dacu and the chances of playing in the league at the age of 40

— In the first ten rounds of the current Russian championship, you were in the reserves, only once you came on as a substitute for the last ten minutes of the match. But in the last two months, out of the next eight games, they were almost always for the entire 90 minutes. How did you win a place in the main squad?

— It's hard to say. Rashid Mamatkulovich Rakhimov and I often talked about my game. I am grateful to him for his trust, for giving me playing minutes. He probably deserved it with his work.

— Do you expect to continue performing like this after the winter break?

- of course. Actually, wait for me at Real Madrid in half a year — negotiations are underway now (laughs).

— Are you already invited there?

— My name is, my name is. But I do not know how I will be able to leave, whether Rashid Mamatkulovich will let me go. We'll talk to him.

— I appreciated your joke, but is it any coincidence that it was about Real Madrid?

— I don't know, I like Real Madrid. I remembered how my uncle Ilya Tsymbalar scored against him from a free kick for Spartak.

— And I thought you were remembering how Lokomotiv, with your father in the squad, drew with Real Madrid (2:2).

— I remember that too. I was lucky that my father and uncle played against Real Madrid. And quite successfully (smiles).

— Do you expect Rubin to make progress in the spring?

— And our team will get into the Champions League altogether. It's just not clear which one (smiles). But seriously, we want to work, we want to be as high in the table as possible. We will try our best at the training camp.

— Why did you decide to change your image and get a bald haircut?

— After the collision with Kasintura, I changed my hairstyle. At one of the recent games with Akhmat (1-0), I got hit on the head as a result of a collision with him. As a result, there was a dissection of the head and ten stitches. So I'm playing with the seams. To make it easier to apply them, I cut my hair. I've never had my hair cut like this in my life, but I've wanted to do it for a long time. And so fate gave me this chance (smiles).

— At the end of October, you played a very controversial match against Dynamo Moscow (0-0). First, you saved the team by pulling a ball out of an empty net, and then you were eliminated. Which emotions from that game were more negative or positive?

— Of course, it was an interesting day for me. First the rescue, then the removal. The main thing is that it caused emotions among the fans.