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AKINFEEV: I FEEL ENERGY OF OUR SUPPORTERS
The goalkeeper of CSKA and the first-choice goalie
of the Russian national team Igor Akinfeev talked to Sport Express.
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Photo: Sport Express Daily
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"I am an Aries, and that is why if something does
not work out I won't budge till I move ahead forcing my way through,"
said the 23-year old goalkeeper. "And even the goal will be hidden
from me I will achieve what I want."
"I easily forget my mistakes and don't really need sympathy from
the strangers. In everyday life support of my relatives is most important
for me, in football - of the head coach."
"If he does not let you sit on the bench and remind you about your
blunders you will quickly understand that the episode is over and it is
no sense looking back at it."
"And on the contrary if you get stuck on your failures people will
easily crush you and find somebody else for your position, as there are
more than enough challengers."
"I cannot just stand and be silent during the match: football is
such a game where everything can change in a second. If we fail to score
- opponents will score past me."
"It is not easy to be always under such pressure, that is why I try
to help my teammates, hint them what to do in a certain situation. Though
I understand that if I were somebody of them I would not probably play
better."
"But it cannot be different. If you like football and play no for
the sake of big money or the opportunity to leave for a better League
you won't be able to suppress emotions."
"There were situations when my goalkeeper's intuition helped me in
my life. Once I was going home and near the porch boys were playing football."
"And suddenly I felt or saw out of the corner of my eye that something
was flying from above. Probably somebody of the inhabitants did not like
that boys were shouted in front of his/her windows."
"And he/she threw a brick from the window on the exact place where
I was standing. And miraculously I managed to dodge - if I a moment late
the brick would strike right in the head."
"I think that I became a good judge of characters when I was about
fifteen years old when I was approaching big football. I don't know where
it came from."
"Maybe those acquaintances woke these features in me who borrowed
money from me and then miraculously forgot to give it back to me."
"I know that people reproach me of being to sulky, smiling too little
and being not eager to give out autographs. Many supporters write to my
blog and ask about it."
"But how should I behave after a game when about a hundred girls
come up to wanting to talk and take a photo with me? Do you expect me
to stay with them and smile as a wally?"
"Unfortunately they don't understand that there is a tired man in
front of them and he is in no mood for smiling."
"I can sacrifice a lot to get back to the Euro-2008 again or get
to the Worlds. I think that even those who lose in the final have great
pleasure."
"To play in front of tens of thousands of supporters knowing that
all Russia supports you is a great happiness I cannot express in words."
"I regret that when we were performing at the Euro last year I could
not see what was going on in Moscow and other cities. I wish I could have
dipped into that atmosphere of universal happiness and unity!"
"I feel the energy of the supporters at the stands but not at all
stadiums, only at those where people sit near to the pitch. When we play
in Luzhniki many thousands can gather but the impression is that there
are only several hundreds."
"Of course I can hear the hum of the stands, clatter of supporters
but the energetics don't come down to me. And at Lokomotiv stadium I feel
the energy of our supporters brimming me. It is a splendid emotion!"
Sport
Express Daily, 21 May 2009
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