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AKINFEEV: WE NEVER PLAYED BETTER THIS SEASON
The main hero of the match Manchester United
vs. CSKA, the goalkeeper of the Army side Igor Akinfeev shared his emotions
with Sport Express.
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Igor Akinfeev Photo REUTERS
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"In the first place we are satisfied with our performance,"
said the first-choice keeper of the Russian national squad.
"Not every team can score three goals at Old Trafford, can it? I
know that on the contrary not everybody concedes three goals but that
happens much oftener."
"When the score was 3:1 we could and must have thought about victory
but at the same time one must always remain a realist - we were playing
against the most powerful opponent, one of the leaders of the world club
football."
"Moreover there were 74 thousand of supporters against us who rushed
their team forward. I have seen many home matches of Manchester United
and all the last minutes when the score is unclear always rest with the
hosts and unfortunately our match was no exception."
"It is pointless to guess whether we had or not any chances to keep
the victory - the score is on the board."
"Of course we can recall our unconverted chances or some mistakes
at our goal but in response the rivals will bring forward their arguments."
"Main thing is that both teams showed very good football and that
not only people on the stands but also numerous TV viewers enjoyed the
match."
"I do not want to take out to public any team's judgments or my own
claims against me - it is more important to me that the entire team played
well."
"It is a pity that luck present throughout the match turned away
from us at the end - the last ball flew in after an accidental rebound."
"I think I have never experienced such a pressure as in the last
ten minutes of the match - the opponent went forward with enormous energy."
"Even in the memorable match against Arsenal when the Londoners had
plenty of chances I did not experience something like this - on the contrary
in the last ten minutes they stopped."
"To my mind the absence of several leading players did not tell on
the play of Manchester United. Any footballer who got to Man. United is
a footballer of the highest class and those who cannot always get into
the starting eleven fought with a double vigour."
"All the three seizures of van der Sar are the most striking and
memorable episodes of the match. Every goal was not easy and in my opinion
rather beautiful."
"I can say that this match was the best for CSKA recently where recently
means the entire year. Both teamplay was well and motivation was high."
"It depends only on us whether we will be able to remain so up for
the five matches left this season. Our new head coach thoroughly explains
the plan for the match and then everything is in our legs and heads."
"The fate of players is that changes of head coaches are independent
of our desires so we must be always prepared for them. We should play
and do our best on the pitch no matter what coach is in charge and it
is no sense complaining about changes - it is better to adapt as quickly
as possible to new requirements and keep on working."
Sport
Express Daily, 05 Nov 2009
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