DERBY
The first thing I saw in Seville, having arrived half a day before the start of the Betis derby - Sevilla - was a Betis fan in a white and green T-shirt walking on the Guadalquivir seafront outfitted into something white and green bulldog. Before the match, I had enough time to watch the faces of the fans gathered at the stadium. And already at that time my distrust in the assertion of a friend of the Spanish journalist that the Andalusian derby, and not the classic at all, was the most violent confrontation in Spain was dispelled. The bulldog's face was not so unfriendly compared to some others that I met on this day.
The taxi driver who drove me to the Betis stadium, one kilometer before the arena, contemptuously clasped his nose with his hand - "Betis stinks too much here." "Seville" is considered a team of urban aristocracy. Betis, which split from Sevilla in 1907, is traditionally ailing the working class. For a hundred years, it is clear that everything has been mixed up in order, and any generalizations by socio-demographic characteristics will not be entirely correct. But no one can get away from the prescribed historical roles. “Sevillistas” act out of themselves aristocrats - even if they just drive a taxi. Betikos is traditionally bigger and fanatical. In one of the newspapers, I came across a story about a fan of white-green, who, following the instructions of his recently deceased father, wears his ashes for every match in a box of milk.
Even Coca-Cola ads in the vicinity of the Betis Arena are green. None of the Betikos would drink this drink if its logo were painted in ordinary colors, matching the colors of Seville. After that, I would not be surprised if the leaves on the orange trees in the vicinity of the Seville stadium were red-white. But for some reason they turned out to be green.
The hatred of betikos and Sevillistas for each other in 1997 overshadowed the love of their own teams: in the match Betis - Sporting (Gijon), the host fans were rooting for Sporting, a victory which would mean a flight Seville. And three years later, “Seville” in revenge threw “Betis” out of the examples, in a very strange way losing at home in the last round, hanging on a thread of “Oviedo” 2: 3. The Norwegian goalkeeper of Seville, Frode Olsen, in that match clearly did not catch the essence of the installation received by the team (he still did not understand Spanish well) and dragged, they say, crazy balls. Olsen was then replaced just in case during the break and, jointly with Oviedo, they forced Betis into the shogun.
The taxi driver who brought me to the Betis arena was probably the only Sevillista in the whole district: the fans of Kerzhakov’s team were not allowed to this match because they defeated the guest rostrum at the previous one, as part of the championship. It still has not been repaired - apparently to show the cameras an empty sector with upholstered seats, like battle scars.
In the absence of Sevilla fans, the intensity of the cup derby did not go down. Already at the pre-match warm-up over the shoulder of Palop, a fire was thrown from the rostrum. Then the bottles flew. Then - racist cries when the ball hit Frederick Kanouta. Each foul of Sevilla players caused such indignation of Betis fans, as if a pregnant woman was offended before their eyes - and there were a lot of fouls. Sevilla, surrounded by 50,000 thousand hostile people, must have felt like a commando battalion behind enemy lines. The trifling skirmish of two football players after a whistle for a break grew into a hefty dump: on the field as if on command "to attack" all the spare Sevilla, including Kerzhakov, rushed.
It could not end well. And it did not end. At the 59th minute of the match, Frederic Kanute opened the score, provoking another bombardment of the field by fans. Celebrating the goal, the players and coaches of Seville did not immediately notice the head coach Juande Ramos crouching on the lawn, the back of which, as it turned out later, was landed with a 1.5-liter plastic bottle with cola. The coaches were carried away from the field in an unconscious state and hid in an ambulance, the match was interrupted, and the evacuation of the Sevilla players from the arena reminded with its scope and complexity the special operation to rescue the hostages.
The remaining half hour of the interrupted cup match will be played on March 20 in a neutral field. In the hope of ensuring safety, they decided to complete the replay without any spectators at all. But no one will be surprised if something extraordinary happens there.
KERZAKOV
Kerzhakov is already well aware of the inner-city football distribution: since his January debut in the form of “Seville” this derby has been the third. In addition to two cup matches, there was also a game in the championship.
“In ordinary, extra-football life, everything is completely peaceful here,” Kerzhakov reassures me, as he sipped freshly squeezed orange juice through a straw on the terrace of a quiet cafe in the Nervion district when we met him a day and a half after the Seville derby and on the eve of the match with Barcelona. - I often met Betis fans in the city, but I have not experienced absolutely any problems in this regard. No discomfort. Well, sometimes someone comes up in the store and says, "I'm betiko." He can show his thumb turned down, like: “Sevilla” is not good. That's all, actually ... It’s in the stadium that they are being transformed. "Puta" start screaming, other bad words. Throw bottles, lighters. At the Betis stadium, the Sevilla spares do not even go warming up on the edge without special need - in order not to turn into living targets. ”
About bottles and bad words, however, Kerzhakov speaks in a completely neutral tone, in which, with all the diligence, I cannot reveal much indignation. Kerzhakov more likely justifies Betis fans than condemns: "People are hot here because they are southern."
Sevilla actually has more significant tasks this season than settling scores with Betis, but Kerzhakov says that the club still attaches special importance to these matches. “Therefore, you should not expect beautiful football from such games,” says Alexander. - At least, he was not truly beautiful in any of these three games. Fight, fight and fight again. ”
Dark-skinned dark-haired Kerzhakov organically fits into the Andalusian landscape with all these palm trees and the sun blinding even in early March. “Those who are not interested in football immediately contact me in Spanish. In short, they don’t take me for a foreigner, ”Kerzhakov smiles. Along the way, noticing that there are very, very few people who are not interested in football.
Kerzhakov has a translator only in theory: in training and pre-match settings, he has to understand everything on his own. Well, or at least that concerns him directly. “It's easy,” says Alexander. - I immediately remembered the basic football terms. And Juande Ramos, if required, repeats some instructions for me slowly, in simple words. In stores, in restaurants I somehow manage myself - I’m carrying a phrasebook with me. In general, this is a good way to learn Spanish: three times a word is spied and repeated - and, consider, remember. The translator helps me only in the most difficult moments - when I need to go to the bank or fill out some documents. He also has to give his wife Spanish lessons to me. But so far, for all this time, we have had only one lesson - there simply is no more time. Arrangement in a new house, training, flights, matches - two a week. " Alexander, as if showing me his newfound knowledge, calls the waiter and orders another glass of juice in quite fluent Spanish.
I am interested in Alexander, whether he already knows how in Spanish “Beat, beat and I will beat” will be, and for the first time he stray from his even, unemotional tone. Accepts notes of resentment, almost annoyance in the voice. Thus, he demonstrates that, even in Russia, he was pretty much taken out by this phrase. He says that this is "no credo." “They just asked me in one interview - I answered. What is this about? Does it follow that I do not give passes to anyone? ”
Just in case, to defuse the situation, I turn my head: "no, it should not." “I always try to act on the situation. If there is a good option, of course, I will give it up, ”Kerzhakov continues, calmer. - That's how Andrey Shevchenko. For me, this is a model forward, I try to take an example from him. But I never forget at the same time why the attackers go on the field. They go out to score goals, right? ”
The best “Seville” sniper Frederic Canute, with whom I have already talked about Kerzhakov (or about “Sasha” - as Maliets calls Alexander, emphasizing the last syllable), called him an excellent partner. “Better than Luis Fabianou or Chevanton?” - “Sasha is similar to them in the manner of the game, he just fit into the game immediately, learned to feel the development of the attack.” In general, says Kanute, it does not matter to him who the partner is - the main thing is that he is. The most difficult matches for himself are the best sniper of the Spanish championship, in which Sevilla played one striker and all the attention of the rivals was concentrated on Canute.
Kerzhakov claims that the constant rotation in the attack of Seville does not bother him. “I do not always play, but at least once a week for sure. Not in the championship, but in the UEFA Cup or the Spanish Cup. ” Petrzhela, when she was a Zenit coach, is told in St. Petersburg, did not replace Kerzhakov without extreme need, fearing to provoke a negative reaction. But just in case, I do not ask Alexander the generally asked question about this difference in his approaches to the rotation of the squad. He speaks of Sevilla only positively, if not enthusiastically, although every second match of the team starts on the bench. Coach Juande Ramos regularly praises him - even after matches in which Alexander did not score. Obviously, Kerzhakov and Sevilla, reunited after six months of waiting, are now experiencing a honeymoon.
Shortly before our interview, at the end of the training, a hundred and fifty people were waiting for Sevilla footballers to leave the stadium - to get an autograph, take a picture or just say something encouraging. For the most part, of course, these are Seville Girls, enthusiastic brunettes of senior school age, but there were other categories of fans. A peasant-looking old man with dry hands, like raisins, brought five weighty packages of oranges. He pathetically slipped these packages into the windows of the cars of the football players stopping to leave the pair of autographs for the brunettes. The old man distributed oranges on the basis of some hierarchy of his own, which, in general, did not differ from the generally accepted one - they were received by coach Juande Ramos, Canute, Daniel Alves, Palop and Javi Navarro. Immediately after the package of oranges, Javi Navarro was put in a baby carriage laid out in the diapers of Seville flowers. Only it was not a gift: the overweight smiling fussy dad wanted to photograph his son with the team captain. They did not trust Kerzhakov’s baby and didn’t give oranges - it turns out until he played enough. Although his silver “three-ruble note” BMW fans and especially the fans stuck around as tightly and did not let go for about 10 minutes.
“I still do not understand why Zenit did not let me go last summer,” Kerzhakov turns to the story with his transition. - It’s well known that then Sevilla offered more money than it paid in the winter. And in the winter, negotiations between Zenit and Sevilla were somehow sluggish. Maybe they didn’t go at all. Everything moved only when I began to negotiate with Moscow clubs. ” Alexander says that they tried to impose “some English options on him at Zenit, but these clubs were not clubs of the European level, and Sevilla is.”
Kerzhakov claims that he does not hold grudges against Zenit, but in such a tone that he does not believe in it. “Still, this is my native team. In principle, I was ready to go out on the field, give my best if nothing happens with the transfer to Sevilla. It’s just that at some point it became clear that they weren’t counting on me and that in any case it was necessary to leave. In general, Zenit is now a completely different club compared to the one in which I once started. ”
Kerzhakov evades the explanation of this phrase. He refuses to discuss whether Zenit is becoming a club of that very “European level”. Alexander also does not want to name the moment when he realized that “Zenith” is superfluous. He only says that he didn’t win at all from the move to Sevilla - “they offered even more at Zenit.” He finely drank the second orange juice and switches to talking about the weather as soon as possible. “She's super, right? This is now up to +18. And a few days ago it was +23. ”
Tomorrow is the match with Barcelona. In case of victory, Sevilla will beat the Catalans and come out on top in the championship of Spain, which has not won for 61 years. “I didn’t know what took so long,” Kerzhakov sincerely wonders. He says that the task of winning the championship is not set for the team: “No one especially speaks on this topic - neither the president, nor the players, nor the coaches. Everyone understands everything: we will continue in the same spirit - there will be a chance. ” According to the logic, which began to be traced in the Sevilla rotation of the forwards, tomorrow it will be his turn to leave in the first team, but whether it will work out, Kerzhakov does not yet know: “This is announced only at the installation, 3 hours before the game.” If it comes out - a jerk, he says, will not be. “Why to mandrave? After all, we are neighbors on the table, which means that the forces are approximately equal. ”
In the end, I ask if he talked about this match with the most famous Barcelona fan in Russia - Andrei Arshavin. “I didn’t communicate,” cuts Kerzhakov. - We have not been talking with him for a long time. Since then, as I played in "Zenith". "
SEVILLA
The hall of the club office at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium is lined with trophies sparkling in the light of the light bulbs pointing at them. But a year ago, before the May victory in the UEFA Cup and the August one in the European Super Cup, the characteristic “club of the European level” in relation to Sevilla would have been loud. Almost all the other prizes here, although very beautiful, are of a very local nature - like the Andalusian Cup, which Sevilla took 17, it seems, times. There is also a prize for the only victory in the championship of Spain (in 1946) and three copies of the national Cup - a special pride of the fans. On the basis of the latter, Sevillistas traditionally mocked Betikos as fans of a less titled club, as Betis won one less Cup in Spain.
In truth, until recently, there was no European level in Seville. Back in 2000, the team flew into the shogun, the second Spanish division with hopeless (10 points behind the penultimate place) results and the game. From a thorough conversation with Marka journalist Mercedes Torresillas, I understand that Sevilla has been known as Alania for decades in Spain: there have always been unbelievably passionate fans, victories at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan were not easy for all the grandees, but to rank “Seville” to their number did not occur to anyone - even after some successful seasons. Outward signs of greatness, with the exception of President Del Nido's high chin, are also not observed in Seville. The stadium is beautiful and 45 thousandth - but has long been in need of repair. A modest base, squeezed between the freeway and the railway line at the exit from the city, would make even Alania laugh. Eight fields, a dilapidated room for storing balls and drying boots, gravel parking with potholes ... The school, however, is excellent at this base. With her, in fact, the current take-off of Seville began.
“Sevilla has always had good players,” says Mercedes Torresillas. - And then suddenly two generally excellent ones appeared - Jose Antonio Reyes and Sergio Ramos. The club did not slow down their progress, overexposure, as Betis overexposed Joaquin. Each was sold immediately as soon as the price reached a maximum - at Arsenal and Real, respectively. The proceeds, about 60 million euros, made it possible to keep all the other leaders, raising their salaries, and to get some excellent new recruits. ”
With beginners, as a rule, guessed. The club earned another 20 million euros on the sale of one of them, Julio Baptista, to Real Madrid. The best sniper of the team and the current championship of Spain Frederic Canute was purchased from the London “Tottenham” for 6 million euros, and now plays at least the same twenty. At the same time, Seville can also help out on the sale of Daniel Alves, bought three years ago for almost symbolic money to replace Ramos. The 23-year-old Brazilian is the best assistant of the current championship of Spain and the strongest, perhaps, right-wing defender in the world at the moment (although at the same time he can be considered right-wing midfielder or even forward). Poulsen from Schalke and Palop, who spent time in Valencia behind the back of the ageless Canisares, came to Seville for free - and visually added reliability to the team in their respective positions. But perhaps the most telling is the story of Javi Navarro, acquired by Seville from Elche: this season the 33-year-old defender played so cool that he was called up to the national team. And now this is the oldest debutant of the Spanish team since the time of Ferenc Puskás - until his Spanish debut in the year of the 34th anniversary of playing for Hungary.
By and large, only one purchase of Sevilla turned out to be unsuccessful (although the most expensive one is 9 million euros) - Uruguayan forward Ernesto Chevanton. But it was precisely the slurredness of his game that, apparently, fueled the persistence of the Andalusian club in the fight for Kerzhakov.
“Well, the coach, of course,” adds Mercedes Torresillas. - To be honest, I never had a high opinion of Juanda Ramos. So, the average coach for medium-sized teams is Malaga, Rayo Vallecano and Espanyola. At the age of already, and at 53 it seems to not particularly change. But he somehow very much coincided with the team. Or over time. Ricard now relies too much on the stars, Capello - on his schemes. And Sevilla is playing today the most modern, most versatile football in Spain. ”
Juande Ramos got a standing ovation for the match against Barcelona: he personally carried out all the pre-match trainings, although the doctors prescribed him peace after the Betis incident. In the Barça sector, there was a traditional banner, “Catalonia is not Spain.” Fans of Seville launched an answer addressed, however, not to the Catalans at all: Betis is not Spain. ” The next hour and a half, I guarantee, temporarily erased from the heads of Sevillistas the memories of Betis. In one of the most dramatic (three goals, three deletions, an unrealized penalty) performances of the entire Spanish season, Sevilla won 2-1, scoring both goals in the minority, and reached the clean first place. And Kerzhakov gave his best match in two Spanish months, scoring the first goal and participating substantially in the second. Now, of course, he will also be wearing oranges.
At the exit from the locker room, Kerzhakov pulled away from the microphones extended towards him with a gesture meaning something like “I don’t understand Spanish”, and stepped through the enthusiastic crowd towards me. “You all asked why I moved here. But why. ”