- A popular assessment of this match in Russia is “the judge is to blame for everything” ...- Refereeing was, to put it mildly, disgusting. But I would not want to justify us at the expense of the judge. We are to blame! Before the match, the coaches constantly told us that in no case should you cling to your goal. And we, the players, reasoned among ourselves in the same spirit. But in the end, the entire center only a few times crossed the center of the field. Therefore, I believe that we ourselves are to blame.
- What specific claims do you have against the judge?
- That judging is biased, I realized very quickly. What can we talk about if the judge ran around the field and shouted “F * ck the Russia” !? I do not know English, but I understood the meaning of this phrase well. And with this phrase I realized that it would be very difficult to go further.
- Because of these words of the judge, did your hands drop?
- No, what are you! During the break, we gathered in the locker room with the players and coaches in a circle and promised that we would fight to the end. All the guys had eyes burned. But by the time of the sixtieth, almost everyone had run out of strength.
- It seemed that many players restrained themselves not to repeat the Danish scenario.
- Everyone was on the platoon. After the game, many told the referee everything they thought about him. And during the match, I tried to reassure some of the guys. I was afraid that someone could really break loose.
- And who, in the absence of Borodyuk, led the game and gave a pre-match installation?
- Losev. And I really liked what he was and how he spoke before the match. Replacements, in my opinion, he also did on his own, without a hint.
“But on television they showed several times that Losev was talking on the phone.” Did he talk to Borodyuk?
- I do not know.
- Why, when Savin was injured, the Torbinsky midfielder left instead of our only striker?
- I myself did not understand. Dima is not a striker. And for him, not a tall and powerful player, it was very difficult to play in the center forward position, cling to the ball. I believe that it was worth Salugin to release instead of Savin. But, what now to talk about it ... It will not change anything.
- What episode was decisive in the match?
- Yes, there were a lot of such episodes! Removal, penalty, injury Savina, own goal Taranova. All the worst that could happen to us this match, it all happened. Literally everything!
- Vitaly Mutko went to this match with the team. Was there a debriefing after the game?
- No, there were no parsing and parsing. Mutko just went into the locker room after the game, supported us, especially noted the refereeing. But at the same time he said that we ourselves were to blame for the defeat.
Evgeny STATSENKO