The goalkeeper of the blue and white Igor Leshchuk shared his emotions from his incredible goal in Grozny, told about his childhood experience of playing in the attack and summed up the interim results of the first part of the season.
— A pressing question: Have you ever wanted to become a striker?
— No, there has never been such a desire. I've always enjoyed being a goalkeeper. Of course, at times I want to run around the field and have fun, but it's more like that – just fool around.
— Sergey Silkin told me that at a young age you were allowed to go to the opponent's penalty area for standards with a suitable score, because you stood out in height.
— I don't remember that I was purposefully allowed to run there, but I connected at the last minute. There were two memorable moments. I once scored a penalty during a game when we were leading 5 or 6 goals. And I came out once more in the attack at the tournament in St. Petersburg: only I was left on the bench, and our player was injured - as a result, I was released into the attack for 10 minutes, during which I managed to score a goal with my head and hit the crossbar again.
— That is, if the penalty shootout in the Cup drags on, will you confidently approach the ball?
— Yes, if it came to me, I would have gone to beat. But I think there are fielders for this, who hone their shots every day, and it's better that they do it.
— Do you feel that you have made history? After all, no goalkeeper has ever been able to do this before either in Dynamo or in the Russian championship at all.
— In fact, I still don't understand what happened. I tried not to go into social networks and not to read anything, so there is no such awareness yet. Perhaps it will come later.
— What was your favorite goalie goal in football before?
— To be honest, I don't even know which of the goalkeepers scored. I only remember the video when the goalkeeper scored through himself, but I'm not sure if it was a professional league. It was very beautiful. I'm still far from that.
— Is a new merch related to your goal coming soon? Any ideas yet?
— Many people have already asked about this, but so far there are no ideas. All thoughts about the upcoming game with Khimki, so we'll postpone this issue for now.
— Despite the bright emotions from the ending, we still lost two points, and Marcel noted the lack of emotions, without which it is impossible to win in Grozny. What was it related to?
— I think it's more likely with emotions thrown out in a victorious match with Lokomotiv. But it's still the wrong approach. I hope that this will be a lesson for our team – you always need to prepare and give your best.
— Ahead of the match with Khimki. The first round meeting turned out to be super-productive. Can we expect the same extravaganza on Sunday?
— It's hard to guess how this match will go, but I would like to win and play for zero, and how many goals I can score is not so important.
— So far everything is going well in the Russian Cup – we were finally able to reach the semifinals of the RPL. The draw for the semi-finals can be called successful, given that now in March and April there will be only one match outside of Moscow?
— Of course, it's good that we will stay in Moscow and play two matches with a good opponent with full stands. It's much more convenient than getting to Rostov, and I think both games will be bright and interesting.
— The first part of the season is ending. How do you evaluate it for yourself and for the team as a whole?
— Both our team and I personally have something to improve. We will sum up the main results at the end of the season, but at the moment I would not say that I am completely satisfied with what is happening in my career, but this is not a reason to be upset. I will work even harder, and everything is in my hands.
— Sunday is the last match of the year, which is traditionally dedicated to the upcoming New Year holidays. What do you wish the fans in the New Year?
— I want to wish you to love and be loyal to your club no matter what, to support the players and move together to the long-awaited titles.
