Chermen Dzgoev, Monaco
At the end of last week, Monaco turned into the capital of European football. The draw for the Champions League and the UEFA Cup was crowned by a match for the Super Bowl between the current winners of both tournaments - the Spanish “Barcelona” and “Seville”. The Izvestia correspondent visited the scene and met as many compatriots there as you can’t always meet, for example, at home games of the Moscow Torpedo.
A year ago, CSKA was a participant in the Super Bowl match. However, Russian language on the beaches and streets of Monaco has not fallen since then. It feels like people just changed clothes: they took off their red army t-shirts and put on something like that, not forgetting to bring packages from Moscow duty-free with them - beach towels come in conveniently. Here is a man with a huge belly under the idiotic laughter of friends, whom he had just lost at cards, is wrung out, hanging from a trestle bed. Here is the menu in Russian: Izvestia correspondent, in search of material for this article, tried to find various funny typos there, but never found it. But, desperately honking and squealing a siren, the patrol car tries to squeeze through the traffic jam, driving everyone into the right lane. None other than our traffic cops, having saved up on vacation, are in a hurry to bathe, renting vehicles through interstate departmental mutual assistance.
The Grimaldi Forum, the museum building where the Champions League draw is held, is facing directly onto the promenade with one side. The sun, the sea, and around hundreds of unnaturally dressed men - in suits and ties. It is worth it, however, to go inside, and it immediately becomes easier: the air conditioners are working properly, girls and boys with trays offer cool freshly squeezed drinks.
The Russians at the ceremony are not strangers. Here is the owner of Spartak, Leonid Fedun, riding an escalator, lost in thought. What would it really mean: Inter, Bayern, Sporting? Are there any chances or is it worth rejoicing just to participate? No answer. And there is no way to understand from the face of Leonid Fedun that he is upset or full of determination ... Only a solid gold chain on the neck of the main Spartak shareholder gives out what color his ambitions are painted.
CSKA President Evgeny Giner is also, as usual, unemotional. In addition, his shirt is buttoned up and tightly tightened with a tie. He leaves the Grimaldi Forum in the company of his son Vadim. In the hands of the latter is a folder in which - fresh results of the draw. “Arsenal”, “Port” and “Hamburg” - from this company the army team will have to get into the playoffs.
"Something you have a lot of questions" - the general director of Spartak Sergey Shavlo, seeing the scribbled note in the hands of a Russian journalist, was worried. “Yes, these are not questions,” the correspondent waved her hand. "And what, answers already?" - found the CEO.
Shavlo said that he was happy with everything in the draw: “teams in the teeth”, and “you don’t have to choose”. But what really worries the Spartak boss is the need to alternate between the Champions League games and the hardest matches of the domestic championship: “We play against CSKA on September 9, and away from Bayern on the 12th. I don’t know how the guys will survive, there another flight ... "
“I’m going to see the match in the Super Bowl,” Shavlo spoke of the pleasant. “I will cheer for beautiful football, but at the same time for Barcelona. Because we want to be like them. We want to bring our style of play to the style of Barcelona.”
He would not, of course, repeat these words. Such “Barcelona”, as in the Friday match against “Seville”, could not recall even the Catalan journalists. And what is surprising: all the players who determine the same style, perfected to perfection last season, were on the field. And they played below all criticism. We conceded a quick goal, one minute before leaving for a break - one more, but in the second half we didn’t attack well, and we built a penalty in our penalty area. In the end - 0: 3, which could be 0: 4, - in a word, shame. Well, the triumph of brilliantly played “Seville”, of course.
“Now you don’t understand with whom you are lucky, with whom you are not lucky. What could be worse than getting to Barcelona? And they, for example, were completely unprepared yesterday,” is the former president of the RFU, Vyacheslav Koloskov, whom Izvestia correspondent met in Monaco after all the draws and super cups, discusses the chances of Russian clubs. - CSKA easier, of course. They have to go. Spartak, most likely, no. "
“My friends live here,” Vyacheslav Ivanovich easily changes the subject. “Tomorrow we will probably go on a yacht ... Well, happily.” Spikelets accompanied by his wife and granddaughter are removed somewhere down the granite stairs. Thick tan, burgundy pants and a jungle fire shirt. Even if Spartak and CSKA do not pass the group barrier, losing all matches dry, this is unlikely to spoil the mood of the ex-president of the RFU, a man in love with life.
Another patrol car roars along the street with a roar. Where is she going? What could happen here? Did the cat climb onto the palm tree? Has someone forgotten where his bike is parked? A group of Russian journalists, kneeling in the sun, are coming up with possible emergency situations in the Principality of Monaco.
Seagulls are flying. Vyacheslav Fetisov is on a yacht of Vladimir Potanin. Two Chechens guarding the parking lot in the empty Grimaldi Forum are thoughtfully playing backgammon ...