2024-04-13 06:31:13
Goalkeeper of the Russian national team and Karabakh Andrey Lunev – about the atmosphere in the national team, the tragedy in Crocus, the game in Azerbaijan and the Brazilian vector of Zenit
To the three gold medals of the Russian championship, Andrei Lunev recently added the highest award of the Azerbaijani championship. His Qarabag team achieved sensational success in the Europa League this season, reaching the playoffs and reaching the 1/8 finals, where the team only lost their spot in the quarterfinals to Bayer Leverkusen in the last minutes (2:2; 2:3). After the Russian national team’s game with Serbia, the 32-year-old goalkeeper was supposed to start our team for the next match against Paraguay, but that game was canceled due to the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall. İdman.biz reports that in an interview with Izvestia, Lunev told how he went to donate blood for victims, assessed the situation in the national team and spoke about the huge number of Brazilians in Zenit.
“I still haven’t fully recovered mentally from what happened.”
— Your recent training camp with the national team ended early due to the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall. What were your thoughts in those days?
– Of course, there was shock from this tragedy – that’s obvious. I would like to once again express my condolences to the families and friends of the victims and wish health to the victims. That day we had a day off after the match with Serbia, and the very next morning after what happened we gathered in Novogorsk, and Valery Georgievich Karpin announced the cancellation of the match with Paraguay, thanked us for our work, wished us good luck and said that we could leave. It was clear that after what happened, the cancellation of the game was inevitable, so no one was surprised.
— That day, some of the Russian national team players went to donate blood to the victims, and you were among these players.
— Yes, we went to the blood donation point. Even when the national team players had not left Novogorsk, the RFU informed us that there was an opportunity to go to one of the blood donation centers. They said that this is a voluntary matter, but who wants and who doesn’t need to urgently leave for their clubs… In general, I had the opportunity to go, and I went. True, among those who arrived there, not everyone was able to donate blood, since there were contraindications to donation. For some, this is the presence of tattoos, but what prevented me from donating blood was that at the end of last year I had dental treatment and had implants inserted. As the doctor said, such operations do not allow donating blood at such a time. But I don’t regret that I went there, because in any case I wanted to help in the current situation in some way.
— When Valery Karpin was asked in an interview with Sport Express what lineup he was going to field against Paraguay, he named you as the main goalkeeper.
— Of course, I wanted to play for the national team, especially in front of my fans. Everyone saw what an amazing atmosphere there was at the match with Serbia. I’m sure the same would have happened in the game with Paraguay at the same stadium. But it is clear that in connection with the tragedy that happened, all this was no longer relevant. So I don’t even talk about it. Unfortunately, it turned out that this was not the main thing in those days. To be honest, even now I haven’t fully recovered morally from what happened, and even then no one cared about football.
“In the national team, goalkeepers are more involved in the team’s game in terms of building attacks”
— If you evaluate the period spent with the national team before the events in Crocus, how do you like the atmosphere within the team and at the match with Serbia after your long absence from it? Was this all very different from the World Cup?
– Of course, the atmosphere is different. Still, at the World Championships the excitement is completely different. And the pressure in official games is very different from friendly ones. But in general there is always a pleasant family atmosphere in the team. It’s clear that many Russian national team players play in different clubs, but when we get together, the atmosphere can be said to be friendly.
— Before this training camp, you didn’t work much with the goalkeeper coach of the Russian national team Vitaly Kafanov – before that, you were only called up to the team twice in the fall of 2021.
– Of course, there is a difference. In the nuances, in the details. If you tell everything in detail, the conversation will drag on. Both in working with goalkeepers and in integrating a goalkeeper into a team game. We are a little more involved in the team’s game in terms of building attacks.
— How interesting is it to go to the national team for unofficial matches, distracted from club affairs?
– Now absolutely nothing bothers me, because with “Garabakh” we played almost the entire period from September to December on a very tight schedule – from the third day to the fourth or two days later to the third. The same schedule was from the end of January to the present. Participation first in the group stage of the Europa League, then in the playoffs, required such a tough schedule. I’m used to it, so the trip to the national team doesn’t kill me physically at all. In principle, thanks to such a density of the Qarabag calendar, I am in good gaming tone and physically more or less ready to play constantly.
— Do you feel that the players of the Russian national team, playing in the RPL without European Cups, are inferior in terms of speed and fighting to the guys playing in European clubs against the best teams of the continent?
— I haven’t watched the Russian championship very often lately. And it’s hard for me to judge what intensity and what kind of resistance the guys who play only for Russian clubs have in the domestic championship. But, of course, the lack of European Cups probably has some effect.
— Have you noticed any difference in the joint training sessions in the national team?
– I can’t say here. You saw the condition of the fields where we trained. These are March fields, so it’s hard to answer your question here.
— Are the fields better in Azerbaijan in March?
— Our fields there are also a little tired after the winter. Let’s say the grass hasn’t turned green yet, so it’s not “wow!” either.
— Is the weather much warmer than in Moscow?
– There’s still wind there. And the temperature is not +20 for everything to bloom. But it will start soon.
“The selection of players that Xabi Alonso has brings his ideas to life on the pitch.”
— You and Qarabag reached the 1/8 finals of the Europa League, but you could have gone even further, almost knocking out Bayer (2:2; 2:3). Did you want to prove to your former club that they shouldn’t have trusted you anymore?
– To prove something to someone – no, there was no such motivation. There was motivation to get further in the Europa League and achieve the goal. I wanted to do this, but, unfortunately, it didn’t work out.
— You met at Bayer with its current head coach Xabi Alonso, who is one victory away from leading Leverkusen to the first German championship in its history. What is the secret of your current success?
— In the demands that he places on the team, on the players. And the fact is that the team fulfills them. And the selection of players that Xabi Alonso has probably fully satisfies his desire and embodies his ideas on the field. The qualifications of these players and the realization of their potential gives such results. I have no other answer.
— Being part of this team last season, could you imagine that he was capable of demolishing Bayern from the top in the Bundesliga, and with such a margin?
“Bavaria, of course, stands apart. We take it out of the equation, but otherwise Bayer has always been a strong and strong team that is fighting to get into the Champions League. And he can also fight for the championship. And this season everyone saw perfectly well that the team was playing well and achieving positive results.
“Even those who don’t follow German football know about Bayer’s reputation as perpetual losers and their nickname “Neverkusen” due to the lack of championships and a couple of cases in the early 2000s when the club missed out on Bundesliga gold in the last round. When you were in the club, did you feel that it was somehow psychologically breaking through these complexes?
— Maybe Serdar Azmun and I brought the champion spirit there (laughs).
— Did they bring it from St. Petersburg?
– Well, yes. But seriously, to be honest, it didn’t feel like they had any complexes and needed to be overcome. It’s just that the guys on the team are mostly young. And the club’s policy is more focused, let’s say, on a fusion of experience and youth. Due to this they are achieving good results, especially this season. God grant that they continue to dominate in the next seasons as well.
“The closest I was to the Bayer team was in the middle of my first season.”
— Qarabag dominates the Azerbaijani championship by a wide margin. If you imagine your club in the RPL of those seasons when you played there for Ufa and Zenit, how competitive would it be?
— It’s hard to compare at a distance. But if we take the best games of Karabakh this season, the same Europa League playoffs, then I think that we could easily play with any RPL club. Another question is what the result would have been, but the fight would definitely have been given to all Russian tops. If you watched the kind of football we play, you will understand that we could.
“It’s hard to remember when and where else a team secured the championship eight rounds before the finish, as Qarabag did now.” How is it that you have been so dominant this season even with a tough schedule due to the Europa League?
– I think due to the right approach to business. In the sense that in each game maximum concentration was maintained throughout the entire 90 minutes. And this despite the difficult schedule and other issues. Many opponents were not ready for this. The right words and motivation from the coaching staff, a competent approach in terms of roster rotation also had an impact.
I would like to note the work of the medical staff together with the coaches, who competently brought us to optimal condition for each match. Well, we must say about the professionalism of the football players themselves and our attitude to the matter. We went to every game motivated, with only the desire to win. All these factors affected the result. Perhaps the problems of competitors also played a role, but it is difficult to speak for them. We need to save all this for the rest of the season in order to score as many points as possible in the last eight matches of the championship, as well as win the Azerbaijan Cup, where we still have a semi-final return match ahead (in the first game, Qarabag defeated Neftchi at home 4:0 “) and the ending. It would be great to finish the season with two trophies.
— In terms of everyday life, how is life in Azerbaijan?
– Quite normal, comfortable. Because there are Russian-speaking people there and, in principle, there is everything you need for life. It’s a sin to complain
— Are there any thoughts of making a second attempt to play in the top European championships? Or have you closed this topic for yourself?
– Well, why? Didn’t close it. I hope there will be another opportunity like this. But at the same time, you need to understand that there are certain nuances that everyone knows very well. Plus age. At the same time, you can look at the statistics in the European championships, what is the average age of goalkeepers there.
– Well, yes, in general, older than your 32 years.
“So everything will depend on me.” I’m thinking, or at least hoping, to try it again. You have to show yourself, prove yourself, and then there will be a chance.
— Even at the time of your transfer to Bayer, it was clear that it would be difficult to become the main goalkeeper if Lukas Hradecki, too significant a figure for the club, did not leave. But was there at least once in two years a moment when you felt that you could oust him?
— There was such a moment, I was really close to it. But then my first injury happened at Bayer. In the middle of the first season in Leverkusen, in December-January, just before the winter break in the Bundesliga. At that time I was close to rotation with Hradecki. And if that injury had not happened, perhaps there would have been a chance to catch a place in the base. But this is all theory – in hindsight we can say whatever we want. But we need to speak factually. In any case, if I try to think about when I was closest to the Bayer team, it would be the middle of my first season. Unfortunately, I already spent my second season with injuries. And there was no chance there at all.
— Last summer you trained at the Zenit base when you were without a club after leaving Bayer. So the relationship with the club has been preserved?
— We have a good relationship with Zenit. What I mean is that I have, in principle, good, normal relations with the coaching staff and the guys from the club.
— Do you like the current Zenit with a bunch of Brazilians on the roster? Is the sarcasm of Artem Dzyuba appropriate here, calling the team in its current form “Zenith Rio de Janeiro”?
— We must be objective: yes, the club has high goals. And in principle, he does everything within the rules. He uses all his capabilities to the maximum, so he achieves results. Why not?
İdman.biz