- Who will you root for in this match?
- Oh, right away for Spartak and Celta. So in general it is more interesting to root for two rivals at once. You worry less, don’t grab at the heart, but enjoy the game.
- Which of the current Celta players do you know?
- Five, it seems. Two still played with me. Gustavo Lopez, of course, Angel, Pablo Contreras, Nene and goalkeeper Pinto.
- Tell them where to go in Moscow, if there is free time?
- Let them go for a walk along the old Arbat, then they are heading to the boutiques on Tretyakovsky passage, and then to the sauna. I think they will like my route.
- Advise them how not to freeze in Luzhniki during the match?
“They know how to warm themselves without me.” There are special ointments that are rubbed before entering the field. Even Russians use them. I’d better advise them that: let them watch a movie before the match - “Irony of Fate, or with a light steam!”. True, they still do not understand anything, even with a translation. And let the Spartacists watch the "Gladiator" Ridley Scott. Cinema before football greatly mobilizes.
- I agree that you are the most famous Russian footballer in the West?
- 80 percent. The fact is that the West doesn’t care - Russian or Ukrainian. Therefore, Andrey Shevchenko is both better known and better than me as an athlete. In addition, he played in Milan, and now in Chelsea. And I didn’t shine in super clubs. The whole world knows every soccer player who has played in such teams, and it doesn’t matter if he played well for them.
- Do you use your popularity like Shevchenko? Selling your name?
- I did this during my career. I had several advertising contracts, to me the first of the Russian players, programmers made a real face in the FIFA 2004 football simulator, and even the commentator in the game called my name. For this, I received money from a company that represented my interests in selling rights to a name. And now I don’t need it. I live in Spain, in Marbella, on the coast and do nothing. My business interests are in two countries - Russia and Spain, so there is something to live for. And Moscow for me is a way to go out, this is the city where I have fun.
- Are there problems with entertainment in Spain?
- Here I live a quiet life. And where to hang out in Marbella? I know only one neighbor, by the way, this is the former presenter of the program "Morning Star" Yuri Nikolaev, remember this? I will play tennis with him - that’s all communication. And in Moscow I can go with my friends to the Pushkin or Barrel restaurants. Or here ... in the “Berth” on Rublevo-Uspensky highway.
“What kind of friends are you?”
- Former football players and businessmen. Kolya Pisarev, Igor Shalimov, the rest are people from business, I do not want to call them, because the names will not tell you anything. Oleg Grachev, for example, is our mutual friend. You have not heard of him.
- With friends it’s clear, but what about European cities? Madrid, Barcelona?
- I love Vigo, Berlin, Paris, Cannes, Rome. But Moscow still comes first. This is not cheers-patriotism. Would be a patriot - would not live in Marbella. When I arrive in Moscow, I go to restaurants of Russian cuisine. I chop borsch, fish soup, beef stroganoff, pickles. I go to night clubs - “ First ”, “Diaghilev”, “Cabaret”. I traveled well in Europe - both as a football player and after the end of my career, but Moscow clubs cannot be compared with anything.
- Don’t say that you come to Moscow to buy clothes too.
- It was like that ... But only some brands. I can say for sure that when I was a football player I traveled to Moscow for Prada , Dolce & Gabbana and Armani things. Honestly! Only in Moscow did I find clothes of these brands that best suited me. And now, for two years now, I have not been following fashion. In Marbella, there’s no reason - it’s so hot that you can only go in T-shirts. And in Moscow, I wear what I buy in the boutiques of the capital.
“Why did you spend so much time abroad?” You better return to Moscow for permanent residence.
- I already told you: it is one thing to live, another to hang out. And then in Spain I have personal reasons that I don’t want to talk about.
“You're a cult character in Vigo, right?” They even wanted to erect a monument.
- But they didn’t. Yes, I’m a hero there, but the memory of me is stored only in the Celta Club Museum - there are some uniforms, underpants, boots, a ball, some trinkets ... They even called Celta’s management, but I refused, because I would have found it anyway people who would get ahead of me. I do not want to take someone else’s place for which a successor was being prepared. And people from Vigo suggested writing an autobiography. But I refused - and not because I was too lazy to write or sorry for the money for the author. Just a book would be boring. Like any player. Read the biographies of the players: born, raised, chased the ball, he was noticed, the team took to the competition - boring things. All books of football players are similar one to another.
- You are the first athlete in the world who starred in an advertisement for an alcoholic beverage. Remember the Badayevskoye beer?
“Maybe I'm a pioneer, but I have followers.” Now on Spanish television they are advertising beer with local stars: Iker Casillas, Joaquin, Luke, and other players. And then, in the mid-90s, I shocked both coaches and fans. Imagine: a famous football player who plays successfully in a foreign club, the leader of the Russian national team, and suddenly, in a beer advertisement. He also says in the video: “Oh! My favorite! ”I then listened to so many reproaches and evil jokes ... And I agreed to appear in this advertisement at a regular banquet. Sat with friends who were related to brewing. Then another there were no advertising agencies, negotiations. They suggested: “Sash! Advertise us a beer. " And after a while, the whole country saw the advertisement. Even then the guys from the national team asked me with hope: “Well, at least bring a box of beer?” And they didn’t joke - they really wanted to drink beer for free.
Anton OTKIDACH