– The first thing that was an unexpected surprise was that Rotan would accept the team. After that, I still saw myself in the lists – it was doubly unexpected and pleasant. Much has been written about it. But it would be one thing if they released a player who would arrive with 4 kilograms plus and with aikos in his teeth. I came with the same ambitions as before. As long as I remember, I was always ready to bite the ground for the national team.
I talked with Rotan and Kravchenko after the match. They said that they were sorry that I played only two minutes. They said that they planned to release it from the first minutes, but that’s how it all turned out. Because I was in good shape then. He felt good. Everything was fair there, and not because we played together. If I was in bad shape, I would have said that I am already a wild boar and I will finish playing in Poland, I can’t run, I don’t want to embarrass myself.
I was more hungry than before. Because I know that they haven’t called for a long time. First there were injuries, and then Petrakov. Who did he train there, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan?
– Armenia.
– Armenia? That’s how he trained ours. I was unlucky with injuries. That’s why I’m telling the players now that you need to recover very well. If I had done everything, there would have been fewer injuries. And so I thought: “I will go home, everything will be fine, my body will recover by itself.” But that’s not how it works. And that’s why we are now telling the guys about this moment. If you have injuries, no one needs you right away. Because football life changes very quickly. Today you play, tomorrow you get injured, a competitor comes, shows himself – and you are already on the second team.
Source: sport.ua