"He wanted to stay at Barcelona: Chuzhkov on Messi's transition, World Cup neutrality and the popularity of beach soccer

- Less than ten days remain before the start of the Beach Soccer World Cup, which will be held for the first time in Russia.

What do you feel?

- The sensations are incredible.

We all understand that this is the biggest tournament of the last two years.

But in connection with the pandemic, it is especially pleasing that the competition will take place at all.

At the beginning of 2021, the question was raised about the possibility of holding them in Russia.

And two weeks ago, it became known about the admission of fans to the stands.

I heard that it was originally planned to organize attendance at the World Cup matches using QR codes.

Now everything will be much easier.

- In the midst of the pandemic, some athletes, for example, the same MMA fighters, admitted that it is more comfortable for them to perform with empty stands - you hear the coach's prompts, you are not distracted.

How is it best for you?

- In beach soccer, the situation is different.

We have a young sport, stadiums are being built for it, TV channels are involved.

We really appreciate the attention of the fans, therefore we are exclusively in favor of holding the games in front of full stands.

- In 2018, Russia already hosted the FIFA World Cup, albeit in the classic one.

That tournament became a huge event in the life of the country, and some players returned from it as real stars.

Did you draw certain parallels with that championship?

- Frankly, I did not think about it.

Well, it went on and on.

We have our own sport.

- Unlike that team, you do not approach the tournament in the status of a dark horse.

The Russian team regularly wins medals at major competitions, and Kristall has been the strongest club in Europe for the last two seasons.

Does this create additional pressure?

- I don't think that the success of Kristall in any way affects the expectations from the performance of the Russian national team.

Still, these are different tournaments and teams, a different coach.

Therefore, one does not overlap.

- As far as I know, an interesting story happened in 2020.

The head coach of Kristall Angelo Shirintsi was unable to stay close to the team, as a result of which the veteran of the club and the national team Yuri Krasheninnikov took over the duties of the coach.

- Yes, at some point the borders were closed, so the Swiss could not come.

As a result, Krasheninnikov trained us up to the Superfinal.

Yuri Yurievich, as they say

(laughs)

.

I do not know how he himself evaluates this experience.

In my opinion, he coped with his job.

Under his leadership, they lost only once, and even then on penalties.

- While Krasheninnikov was replacing the head coach, did you ask to contact him by name and patronymic?

- No, in terms of communication, nothing has changed.

Yura himself did not put himself above the rest.

It was just that he was given a certain task of preparing the team.

- As far as we know, that season was not very successful for Kristall ...

- Yes, it turned out to be difficult.

The pandemic restrictions in St. Petersburg were eased later than in Moscow, so we started training just one and a half to two weeks before the start of the championship.

And there weren't enough foreigners.

We have several Brazilian legionnaires in our team who have been the backbone of the team for several years.

All fours were played, but here we had to re-develop connections.

As a result, only the third place in the Superfinal.

- I've heard the opinion that only a few national teams can compete with the Russian national team at the World Cup.

Do you agree?

- In fact, now almost all teams are at about the same level.

Remember the past primacy of the planet.

You can beat the Brazilians in the quarterfinals and then lose to the Italians in extra time.

Beach soccer is an unpredictable sport.

Here, every touch or bump can lead to a decisive goal.

- Recently, Russian swimmer Andrei Minakov said that "talk about chances for a medal" prevented him from successfully performing at the Tokyo Olympics.

Much is also expected from the Russian national team at the home World Cup.

Is it putting pressure on you?

- Personally, it doesn't bother me.

I ignore the talk about medals.

I think we need to go in stages.

Now the main task is to win a ticket to the playoffs.

- It is believed that over the past two years in the Russian national team, the competition in the goalkeeper's line has become extremely aggravated.

“I don’t think it’s for me to talk about it.”

Better to ask your coach.

At the moment, three goalkeepers are preparing for the tournament, and we do not know exactly who will get a chance to play.

We are waiting for the decision of the mentor.

- In Russian football, they have always been proud of their goalkeeper school.

Who do you think is the most promising of the current generation of goalkeepers?

- To be honest, I'm not interested in Russian football at all.

Yes, sometimes I can watch matches, for example, at training camps.

But in order to purposefully ... I do not think that I must follow this.

- What about European?

- I have nothing against it.

Foreign football is very interesting and agile.

If time permits, I can watch a couple of games.

- Consequently, there are no favorite Russian teams either?

- Not now.

There used to be Wings of the Soviets.

But after I was fired from the club, he stopped being loved.

- Are there any foreign teams that you sympathize with?

- I liked Barcelona when Lionel Messi played for it.

- The Argentine left the club the other day.

How do you rate this decision?

- It's hard to judge.

As far as I understand, Messi himself is not to blame.

He wanted to stay at Barcelona.

But for a number of reasons, he was unable to negotiate a salary with the club.

- If big football is not in your area of ​​interest, perhaps follow other sports?

- At the training camp, we spent almost all our free time watching the Olympic Games.

I especially remember the victory of Maria Lasitskene in the high jump competition.

We also watched handball, volleyball.

If I remember correctly, I was not able to see the match between the men's national teams of Russia and Brazil - it was shown very early.

But I watched the final.

- Probably one of the most resonant events of the Games was the scandal in rhythmic gymnastics.

Didn't you follow?

- Of course I heard about it.

But I am not a referee, so it is difficult for me to analyze the performance of athletes.

It's a shame that something like this happens at the Olympics.

Perhaps the girls were really sued.

- Name the three main events of the Tokyo Olympics.

- The scandal in rhythmic gymnastics, the defeat of the women's team in the final of the handball tournament, as well as fifth place in the unofficial medal standings.

In my opinion, the Russian national team was more than successful at the Games.

The athletes are great.

Even despite the absence of a flag, they continued to fight for their country, to win medals for it.

It costs a lot.

- At the World Championships you will also have to play in neutral status.

Thinking about it?

- This will be the first such experience for me.

I can’t even imagine what it’s like.

There is nothing to compare with.

- At the Olympics, after the victories of Russian athletes, the first concert of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky sounded.

Perhaps you have any ideas what could be used instead of the Russian anthem in the Beach Soccer World Cup?

- They'll come up with something.

In my opinion, one could take "The King and the Jester" - "The Sorcerer's Doll"

(laughs)

.

Very good composition.

Or Basta - "My game".

There are many options to choose from.

- In one of your interviews, you mentioned that even after the 2019 World Cup, you were recognized on the street only a couple of times.

Has the situation changed over the years?

- No.

I think this is due to the fact that our sport is not very widely covered on television.

Although the European Champions Cup final with Braga was shown on one of the federal channels, for which I would like to express my gratitude.

But gradually, interest in this sport is growing.

Over the past five to six years, the number of fans has increased.

True, on the street they still don't recognize 

(laughs)

.

- After Euro 2020, some well-known athletes expressed the hope that the failure of Russian footballers would force fans to follow other sports more closely.

Didn't you have such thoughts?

- I don’t see the future tournament as an opportunity to get people to pay attention to us.

If people want to watch, they will.

No - they will miss everything again.

In my opinion, the Russian beach soccer team deserved it back in the early 2010s, when they won two world championships in a row.

- What do you think beach soccer needs to become more popular in the country?

- The Russian national team has enough victories.

Therefore, I would like to see him pay a little more attention and stand out from others.

- Often, in the words of representatives of some sports, a certain envy of football players is felt.

Especially considering the fact that in some disciplines domestic athletes achieve much better results.

Do you have a similar feeling?

- A certain jealousy of big football has been present since the transition to the beach. I wondered why so much attention was paid to them, although they won nothing. And yet so little attention is paid to those who have won almost all possible trophies.