Sergei Semak: “The UEFA Cup is the maximum that Moscow can count on now

- The match with PSG in the Champions League ... Last for CSKA League Champion match in the 2004/2005 season. Next, CSKA went to the UEFA Cup without Semak. Was that a problem for you?

- Not. There was no such problem. Each has its own road, for CSKA at that time it was a road to the UEFA Cup, for me it was a road to Paris. I think that now it makes no sense to discuss why everything happened this way ... I regard this experience primarily as positive for me as a person and a football player. I really enjoyed the time spent in Paris, and I think I will remember it for a long time.

- And how much was that match remembered? Then few people believed that CSKA will spend the second half successfully. What was your impression of that match?

- Preparation for the match took place in Spain. The championship of Russia has long ended. Again, the press was not the best impression. Most of the articles talked about the fact that Russian clubs have never beaten the French teams. All forecasts were extremely pessimistic. Nevertheless, the team entered the game in a good mood, in good physical shape. From the very beginning of the match, it became clear that today we can play with dignity. Of course, we all wanted to go even further in the Champions League, and probably only this thought was in my head before entering the field. We really succeeded in starting the match: we were able to score a goal and, in addition, had some more dangerous moments at the opponent’s goal. The team’s game looked lively, we really showed good football. Well, further events, in principle, could knock down any team. At first we were in the minority, then PSG equalized. After that, the course of events was little predictable, but everything turned out successfully for our team.

- Do you have the feeling that in ten years this particular match will become a kind of calling card of Sergei Semak? Still, a hat-trick on a foreign field in the strongest club championship in Europe. Especially against the French, who have never beaten ...

- I do not think that someone will remember whether we beat the French before or not. But the match itself, it seems to me, will go down in history anyway, and football fans will remember it for a long time. Not all, of course, but nonetheless. Perhaps this game will be shown a couple of times in the news bulletins in connection with some forgotten athlete.

- Is there a relationship between these two events - your game in that match and the subsequent transition to PSG?

- I think yes. Interest in me was even after the first match in Moscow. However, I knew absolutely nothing about it until the very last moment. When I was at a training camp in Italy with CSKA, my agent called me and said that they were waiting for me in Paris the next day. I replied that this was impossible, that I was not in the know, and no one had told me anything about this. In the end, they decided: "Drive, and we'll see."

- Tell us about your feelings from Paris in general and from PSG in particular. Or are they inextricable?

- For me they are inextricable. Paris, in my opinion, unlike other cities, lacks a certain pragmatism. For example, Lyon is the business center of the country. But Paris is still a cultural and entertainment, historical center of France and Europe. Perhaps that is why there is a lack of stability and metropolitan football. Although PSG is, most likely, the only sports passion of Parisians, not counting the tennis Roland Garros. Journalists and fans here literally adore their team. All the time, as if expecting a miracle from her. But it does not happen. In my opinion, the problem is that there is absolutely no stability in the team. There is no well-thought-out line for the formation of the club, as, again, in the same “Lyon”.

- How were you met in France? Nevertheless, this is not such a frequent case - the club loses in Europe and immediately buys the player of the winning team, in fact the best player of that match.

- How the fans met, to be honest, I don’t know. Although I am sure that there were pessimistic statements. I would rather tell how I was met by teammates. Everything was very warm, and I was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere prevailing in the club. This is despite the fact that PSG is now far from the leader of French football! Everyone seemed to want to take part in my fate. For example: “What are you doing in the evening? Come to visit us. ” The only and biggest problem was the language barrier. I speak a little English, but, unfortunately, the English-speaking players in the team could be counted on the fingers.

- There is an opinion that Paris in every person evokes its sensations. And what is Paris for you?

- For me, Paris is primarily dear not for its historical sights, but for small streets. It is a great pleasure at eight in the morning to drink a cup of coffee and eat a croissant in a cafe in the vicinity of the city. Even, I would say, on the outskirts. Although in Paris and in the city center, where cars and people scurry about, literally through two streets you can find a quiet hotel. But I’m nevertheless closer to the outskirts, places where you can walk in the park. By the way, the center of Paris is loved by tourists, not Parisians.

- Why didn’t it turn out in PSG to play in full force, what happened to you? Was there any kind of game breaking connected with moving to another team?

- You know, in my opinion, the most important thing for a football player is the confidence of the coach. And the terms in which you get used to another life, another team, they are all different. It all depends on psychology. For me, for example, communication is important, that is, you cannot play in a team and not communicate with partners. Although the main negative factor for me was the departure of the head coach, who invited me to the club. Then I arrived not in the best shape, and he gave me five days to get used to and released in the starting lineup. And then he let me play, watched me. He let the fans get used to me. What was your attitude to me? The player scored in the European Cup both in Moscow and in Paris. Must show the game. Fans immediately find it difficult to understand that I am not a scorer, but a normal team player who works for and on the team. At first it was difficult to prove that I was not a star like Ronaldinho, but an ordinary player. Still, they thought: “Once in the Champions League, he scored, we will have even more so.” So it took me about three months to adapt a little, so that some elementary communication skills appeared. So that in some situation you can understand or explain something. And by this time a new head coach had already come to the team. And you should already show yourself to him. And he always preferred the French footballers. And if you want to be part of, it should not be a cut above, but two above the rest. After him came another head coach, but by this time I had already decided that it was time to return to Russia or change the club. Although the question was more global - what do I want further from life: to stay abroad or return. In the end, I decided to return. Although PSG were against it and tried to dissuade them to the last. That is, my relations with all the coaches were absolutely normal.

- Upon returning to your homeland, you still were not in CSKA. How do you perceive this, yet they have given the club almost ten years?

- Firstly, I was not eager to leave the club. And secondly, when I returned, there were no proposals from CSKA. There were offers from Lokomotiv, I was interested in Zenit and Dynamo. Well, actually, “Moscow”. But, since I was bound by a contract with PSG, it was necessary to solve the transfer issue promptly. I was not against moving to Loko, but at that time an unfamiliar specialist came to the post of head coach, I decided not to risk it. Still, I did not want to go to an unfamiliar coach. And in the case of Moscow, I represented the style of the coach and how the team plays. According to Dima Kirichenko.

- And how do you feel about the fact that you have not been to CSKA for a long time, and the army stands sometimes still chant: “Hey, Semak, let's forget it!”?

- It’s hard for me to explain such great respect from the fans. But I am very pleased to be remembered, respected and appreciated. For me it is of great importance - that for CSKA fans I have not sunk into oblivion. What they still watch is worried about me. Some even at matches of FC Moskva come to cheer for me. This, of course, warms the soul. I have always been very warm and treat CSKA fans. And I myself try to go to the matches of the army, if possible, especially the European cups.

- Were you not offended that they did not call you to CSKA after your return?

- How can one be offended by this? Everyone does his own thing. The player is his own, the coach is his own. At the moment, there are players on whom Valery G. Gazzaev, the same Carvalho, is counting. He does not see me in the starting lineup of CSKA. And to impose my services as a football player on my part would be wrong.

- Upon returning to Russia, did you feel the difference between CSKA of past years and the current “Moscow” with its status, its ambitions?

- Of course, the difference is palpable. And there is an objective explanation for this. CSKA is CSKA, whether this club is fighting for the championship or not. This is a huge army of fans not only in Moscow, but throughout Russia. FC Moscow is a team that suddenly appeared on the Russian football horizon, a team with great ambitions. Personally, I see huge potential in this club. The question is how much the team will be interesting to its leaders in the future and how harmoniously it will develop. There are clubs that no longer need to develop.

- So you think that CSKA, Spartak, Dynamo will stay afloat anyway thanks to traditions, image, and Moscow still has to earn this kind of base?

- That's right. How to earn a base? We need to attract spectators to the stands with our image, but we still play football for the fans. Take the same metropolitan Lokomotiv. Which way did the team go? At first, as Oleg Romantsev once put it, there was nobody in the stands except for the relatives and friends of the players. And now this is one of the leaders of Russian football with an army of fans, an excellent (probably even the best in Russia) stadium. And the team continues to attract new fans. Attributes, souvenirs, delivery of tickets to your home or office.

- This is all in Lokomotiv, but is it in Moscow?

- Yes, the club is constantly working hard to attract new fans. Football players often attend various educational institutions. There is a whole staff of people dealing with this problem. And all of them, by the way, know their business and relate to it with a soul.

- Do you want to break into the European Cups with the team this year?

- Of course. In fact, this is one of the development stages of the team. And it’s very good that the team currently has the task of breaking into the UEFA Cup zone. In my opinion, this is exactly the maximum that we are capable of now. Perhaps someone, abstracting from the situation, would say that we must go to the medalists, to the Champions League. I think this approach is wrong, everything should happen gradually. And, if you evaluate a number of factors, in my opinion, we take absolutely our place. And in order to move on, you need to grow. In order to have your own good stadium, your fans, there must be a game, the team must show the result. I don’t think that someone will go to root for the team that is fighting for 13-14th places so as not to fly to the first division.

- At the moment in Moscow you are the person who holds the team in a fist inside the team?

- No, hardly. There is a group of reputable players, team leaders. There are people who play here for a long time. You can’t say the same about me, this year I’m getting used to everything, I am establishing a relationship.