Alan Kusov has a strange life. First, take off from a short run - the champion of Russia at the age of 22, the national team ... Then several clubs not the most high standard. Then he suddenly disappeared for more than two years and just as suddenly returned. This winter, Kusov appeared in the second division - in FC Dolgoprudny. "SSF" met with Alan to find out how life is.
It was difficult to meet - "Dolgoprudny" disappeared at the training camp, and in short intervals between them, Alan dangled between Moscow and Vladikavkaz. I caught him in a hotel in Otradnoye, Kusov stayed there for a couple of days with friends. Sat down in the corridor.
FAULTY CALF
- What are the fates of Dolgoprudny?
- I was vacationing in Moscow, and it turned out that I have a mutual friend with the club's management, and he brought me together. Negotiated, signed a contract until the summer. And there you will see.
- You've got a great gang!
- Our president focuses on the young, educates his own, but how can this be done without experienced ones? I, Seryoga Puchkov, Erik Korchagin, Zhitnik Lech. Good goalkeeper, Andryukha, Ryzhikov's brother...
- Where will you live?
- There are many places. Now I'm here with friends, they came from Vladikavkaz. But I want to rent an apartment closer to the stadium so that the children come for the holidays, I have three. They go to school in Vladikavkaz.
- What is your place on the field?
- Supporter. As a child, he started as a striker, then as a right midfielder, and when he got into Alania's double at the age of 16, he became a pivot. Gazzaev asked to attack more. It also depends on age, at 32 you are more defensive. It’s not that your health is not the same, but you still run less.
- Before Dolgoprudny they played in Tashkent ...
- A year ago, in the winter, I came there - to Lokomotiv. He was the only legionnaire there. I passed the training camp, the coach Khakim Fuzailov (at one time he worked as an assistant to Semin at Lokomotiv) said that he saw me in the squad. But just before the start of the season, I broke calf muscle. He recovered, in the first match he went out for 15 minutes, immediately scored. I started the next game in the first team and again tore the same muscle, only stronger. It happens that you don’t heal, you leave earlier. But here I was recovering for a month and a half! We talked with the management and immediately after the first round we parted peacefully. I would love to play in Tashkent again. We took second place - one point behind Bunyodkor. They are now trained by Mirjalol Kasymov. In 1995, I gave him balls, and in 2004 I was lucky to play in the same team.
- Didn't you ask him to come to Bunyodkor?
“I am not the kind of person to talk to. Although we are on good terms.
"There is such a disease - CASINO"
- Injuries haunt you ...
- After CSKA, I played for a year in Alania, then for six months in Chelyabinsk and went to Terek, where Tarkhanov was a coach. We agreed on a three-year contract. And on the fourth or fifth day I got a knee injury. I didn’t feel anything during training, but I woke up in the morning - my knee was swollen. I flew to Moscow, did an MRI, it turned out to be a meniscus. And during the operation it turned out that the cruciform was also torn. They did one surgery for me and then another one a month later. And then the doctor decided to check the other knee. And it turned out that the same thing is there - the cruciate ligament and the meniscus.
- What, it didn't hurt?
- Not. Has made two more operations and has dropped out for two and a half years. I didn't tell anyone, no one knew what it was. Everyone thought - went on a spree, washed down.
- What did they do this time?
“For the most part, nothing. Vacationing with friends. Visited the casino.
So there was money?
- Whoever plays in a casino does not care if he has money or not. It's a disease. Played roulette.
- Have you won?
- Sometimes. After all, they must give to win so that you come again. But there is not a single person in history who would beat the casino. They cheat there. You also have to deceive friends, relatives, loved ones. To get money, you sell apartments and cars - that's all!
Have you reached that stage yet?
- He got to everything - he lost both apartments and cars!
- And how did you get out?
Stopped once. Thank you friend for helping. Authoritative senior friend.
- Hypnotized, or something, locked it with a key?
- Not. He asked: "For the sake of your children, stop playing." And I'm done forever.
Why haven't you played football for so long?
- After such operations, it heals for about six months, then you get in shape ... I could return earlier, but it dragged on. Dirty life, you might say.
– Did these two and a half years somehow keep you in shape?
- No, no football, did nothing.
- And weight?
- It is always the same for me, so I returned to football without any problems, went to Azerbaijan - to Standard Baku.
"THE PERSON RELAXING"
- Did you run in front of Baku, did you tighten your uniform somehow?
- No, I came and started training on a par with everyone else.
Did your legs hurt?
- Not. I've never done much training (laughs).
- What is it like?
- I'm not particularly bothered now. Of course, training is needed, but I can say that I am such a ... a little resting person. Such an organism! I always felt good at the training camp, even after long breaks. It's not a problem for me. My problems more often arose not because of a violation of the regime ... The regime could be violated, but in poor condition I never came to training. Might not come at all. Like this!
- In whom are you so hardy?
- My father was very developed physically - he pulled himself up on one arm! Probably went for it. The brothers are not as tall as me.
The youngest is a football player. How is he doing?
- Now he plays for the Krasnodar Territory, he can’t get higher, because he tore the cruciform twice on one knee. And so he played for Alania, Kuban, SKA Rostov. The second brother is in St. Petersburg, he has four higher educations.
BASKETBALL PLAYER
- You, probably, like everyone else in Vladikavkaz, tried yourself in freestyle wrestling?
- At the age of six, he came to enroll in the section. The coach says, "Repeat what this guy will do." The boy comes out and this began! Somersaults, flips, pull-ups, push-ups ... How to repeat this? Turned around and left. I went, signed up for basketball, played until the age of 12. He even played for the national team of Vladikavkaz at the championship of the republic.
- Already then were above all?
- He grew up later. Then he was small - point guard. Out of ten, ten three-pointers were thrown, out of ten, ten were free throws. And at the age of 11, he began to go to football at the same time.
And now the moment has come - either-or ...
No, or-or it wasn't. Basketball and football in Vladikavkaz could not be compared. In addition, Alania became the champion of Russia in 1995, all the guys were turned on football. Wherever we played - in the yard, in the neighboring kindergarten, at the nearest school. For days! Until it gets dark. Mom worked as a head teacher at the school. Every summer I went to the mountains to be treated for asthma. And when she was in the mountains, I signed up for football at Yunost, because she didn’t let me. The first coach is Igor Vitalievich Osinkin, the same as that of Dzagoev. Soon he moved to Spartak, like Venya Mandrykin, and to the same coach - Gorokhov. I, too, like Vienna, they said: "You will go to America." And that settled everything. We flew three months later to the America's Cup. There were many teams from all over the world. We beat someone in the final - 4:1, I played the right half, scored two goals. Then we went to this Cup again, but lost in the final to the Canadians - 0:4. Been to many places...
HEART DISEASE
- You also had the World Youth Games.
– Yes, we won in Moscow. We were promised masters of sports international class, but they just gave masters, but at the age of 17 it’s also not bad. They handed over a gold watch from Yeltsin - "Flight", and from Dzasokhov, too, "Flight", only more. But suddenly I started having heart problems. Three matches played, and all - shortness of breath. I run 50 meters - and I can’t go any further, I’m suffocating. They banned playing football. But then I was already playing in the double of Alania.
– Disaster!
No, I was calm. I am always calm.
- What did you do without football?
- Never mind. Then he did not drink, did not walk. Therefore, he did nothing - he rested.
- Did you kick the ball?
- Did not do anything! And suddenly, six months later, everything was gone. It turns out that this was due to the transitional age, when I grew up dramatically. But there are still rumors that I have heart problems.
"UNCOMFORTABLE IN FRONT OF GAZZAEV"
- Wikipedia says: 6 matches for the youth team ...
- Much more. Under Gladilin, I played almost all the matches, although I was born in 1981, and the guys from 1979 played there - Bulykin, Bezrodny. I remember one moment. They played with the Slovenian national team under Gazzaev. And he always has such requirements: if there is a long pass to the attacker and he loses, then the central midfielder must definitely pick up the ball. If the selection was not made, he could fine and replace. And now, by the 5th minute, I had two moments when I could not make a rebound. Valery Georgievich called Evsikov to change clothes, and replaced me.
- What are the relations with Gazzaev?
– Normal. I am grateful to him. Only very inconvenient - he counted on me, and I let him down. And in CSKA, and in general in life. He always tried to explain to me, to help, to direct, but I behaved in a wrong way.
I want to apologize to Valery Georgievich and Evgeny Lennorovich Giner. Failed both. But more than Gazzaev, he counted heavily on me.
“I REMEMBER ALL THE GOALS!”
Let's go to the clubs. How well it all started - Alania, the base, four goals ...
- For the first time, Averyanov released me against Uralan in 2000 instead of Alexander Chaika (his back hurt) for 20 minutes. And the next game, in Voronezh, I played in full. I remember all the goals. "Zenith", Moscow "Dynamo", "Sokol", "Rostov".
- In 2003, in CSKA under Gazzaev - 11 matches.
- Problems with Achilles began. Because of this, he played so little. In the same 2003, he returned on loan to Alania to help, she was in last place. This is only my decision, and not something that Gazzaev removed.
– Did casinos get infected in Moscow?
- Yes. I went there in 2003, left ... in 2008 (laughs).
- Was Gazzaev aware of it?
He is always in the know!
- From relatives, probably, they heard a lot of things.
- There was always pressure, but I don’t want to talk about it.
- When did you get married?
– In the same 2003. 1400 people were at the wedding in Vladikavkaz.
- In the Caucasus, weddings are a ruin.
- All the same, it is cheaper in Ossetia than in Moscow. And not twice, but many, many times.
FRACTURE - IN "TORPEDO", ANKLE - IN "ANJI"
- Why didn't it work out in Anji?
- Invited Omari Tetradze there. I managed to play with him in 2002 in Alania, we became friends. And then phoned, he took me to the second round. He came, played three matches, and then injured his ankle. He recovered, but the team was going well, and they did not change the composition. We took 1st place and advanced to the Premier League. Tetradze left, and so did I.
- What prevented the "Torpedo"?
- Pavlov called there. Won the championship of Russia in the second league. It turns out that in all three leagues he was a champion. In "Torpedo" everything was fine. Only at the beginning of the second round we played with Saturn-2, I went on a tackle and broke my leg. Because of this, the season did not finish. And then Pavlov left, and so did I.
- Four goals in half a season is not bad for a defensive midfielder.
- One - in Gubkin from thirty-five meters hit, one - from the penalty spot, two - with the head. He scored two more in the Cup.
–What were the problems in Luch?
- None. I went to Vladivostok again to Pavlov. The team got along well. Just a little unlucky, flew out. And he left because his knee hurt, and the contract ended. In addition, there was a variant with Tashkent.
"LIFE IS ALL FUN"
- What after football?
- There is an unfinished higher education - three courses in law. Two left. Someday I will definitely finish it. And what I will do, I have not decided yet, but something related to football. Maybe I'll be a coach. Or an agent.
- Football gave a lot of friends, enemies?
- Friends - yes, enemies, I think - no.
- Have you saved up something - real estate, cars?
I left everything at the casino.
- But do you have an apartment in Vladikavkaz?
- No comments.
- The happiest day?
- The birth of the first daughter. Although two more children were born after, but let them not be offended, I love my eldest daughter most of all.
- The birth of a daughter in Ossetia - also 1400 people?
No, this day is not celebrated much. Let's hang out with friends for a bit...
–How much is a little?
- Only three days.
- The scariest day?
It hasn't happened and I hope it won't. If only I disappointed the children.
- And the funniest one?
- (Laughs.) All life is fun. So funny, few people have such. Count all football life rested!
"Hey boy, hurry up!" - Omari Tetradze and Artur Pagaev hurried when he and his peers from the Spartak Sports School served balls from out of bounds at a crowded Vladikavkaz stadium. There was a championship for "Alania" season-95. He looked at the idols, not assuming that he would someday play next to them. Good to play. Last year, he was among the best in Alania, becoming one of the discoveries of the 2002 championship. BUT new season will start at CSKA.
FAMILY
- Alan ... With such a name, apparently, God himself ordered to play for "Alania"?
When I was born, the main team of North Ossetia was called Spartak. Parents were cool about football. But maybe they had a presentiment that I would link fate with this game? (Smiling.) A joke, of course. The name by which I was called is very common among us. The Alans are the ancestors of today's Ossetians, proud and courageous people. Just please don't write "Alans", as they often do in the press. This is wrong, and the inhabitants of the republic are offended. They honor the history of their people, so they call the kids that name.
- Freestyle wrestling is very popular in Ossetia. Parents were cool about football - but didn’t they want to see you on the wrestling mat?
No. They generally did not persuade children to sports hobbies. They just wanted us to study well, grow up as honest people, and choose a profession to our liking. My father worked as a driver for many years, he drove KamAZ, but it seems he never dreamed that his sons would follow in his footsteps. In the end, it turned out, almost like in that joke. (Laughs.)
- In which?
And remember: the father had three sons ...
- ...two smart ones, and the third player?
Exactly! It's just different in our family. Football was chosen by two of the three sons. My younger brother Arthur this year graduated from a secondary school and the Spartak Sports School, and recently began training with Alania's team. And the older brother Oleg has nothing to do with football. But he is not just smart, but very smart. At the age of 23, he has two university diplomas: he managed to unlearn law and history at the same time. Internally and in absentia. Now he is looking for a suitable place for the legal part, and history, so to speak, for the soul. This subject was one of his favorites at school.
Best of the day
- What school subject did you like?
Little bit of everything. Of course, I could not keep up with my older brother in comprehension of knowledge - he does not have a head, but the Lenin Library. But somewhere until the ninth grade and I studied well. First, it was interesting to learn something new. And, secondly, the status obliged.
- ?
Mom is the head teacher of the school where my brothers and I studied. Plus, she taught the Ossetian language in our classes. You understand, to slovenly, having the status of the son of the head teacher, would be at least incorrect. In general, for the time being I gnawed school items for fours and fives, but then football began to take too much time, and academic performance decreased. Mom, of course, was unhappy, but she had to put up with it. Arthur was more fortunate.
- In what sense?
When he followed my path, my mother was already used to the fact that serious football requires sacrifices in the form of lower school grades. And her attitude to the football hobby of her youngest son was completely different. And I suffered at the time. In our yard every evening they played hole-holes. At that time I didn’t even think about SDUSHOR, but I wanted to run around. It used to be that you learn the lessons, but "for dessert" mom will save the original requirement: read 30 pages of text, memorize it well and retell it to her. Only then - walk quietly.
- Were the texts difficult to offer?
At your own discretion. But when you wanted to go outside, it was the same as reading and retelling - even "Mumu", even an article from a reference book on cybernetics.
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA
- So, by today's standards, you came to "civilized" football late?
At the age of 12 and completely by accident. A friend once went to sign up for the Youth Sports School and invited me to go with him. They looked at me and left me. He studied with two coaches: first with Igor Osinkin, then with Gennady Lyubochkin. About a year passed, he moved to the Spartak Sports School to Valery Gorokhov.
- How did the new school “bribe” you and new coach?
At the Spartak school, Valery Viktorovich organized a children's football club"Forward", whose plans included participation in major international tournaments. Before, I had never traveled further than Mozdok (a regional center in North Ossetia. - Approx. S.K.), and then only a month passed - and a trip to the USA! It was in the summer of 1994.
- Well, how did you conquer America?
Conquered! They handed us the appropriate prize for winning the America's Cup. By the way, more than 1000 children's teams participated in this tournament from all over the world. “Forward” was the strongest in his age group. When we flew home and waited to board the plane, everyone at the Chicago airport looked at us with great interest - they were so small, but the cup was being carried so huge. They considered it and, apparently, considering that we had done a great job, they began to applaud in unison. It was very nice.
- Were you also met with honors at home?
They praised him and gave him a cash prize. They say that Valery Georgievich Gazzaev himself did his best, the head coach of the Vladikavkaz Spartak, the future Alania. Gorokhov seemed to have been told to save money for the next trip, but he decided otherwise: we divided everything equally among ourselves. That's how I got my first football salary. He brought the money home and gave it to his parents.
- And in the future, what were the successes of the “Forward”?
Solid. True, we were no longer paid bonuses - they apparently decided that this was pampering. Maybe they made the right decision. And now the kids football section are recorded with one thought: a football player earns a lot. Moreover, they want money as quickly as possible, as much as possible and at the lowest cost of physical and mental strength. We in the “Forward”, to be honest, thought about distant countries. And, of course, how to win in these countries. The team was quite good: from 1994 to 1998 we always became winners or prize-winners of various tournaments. Again in the USA, several times in Scotland, Wales, Italy, Spain. They beat peers from well-known European clubs - Celtic, Blackburn, Dundee United, Aberdeen, Napoli, Middlesbrough...
- What position did you play in Gorokhov's team?
Right midfielder. However, it's not about the position, although I really liked the place of the extreme midfielder. Several years spent with Valery Viktorovich taught me to truly love football, to put all the strength that you have into it. Our coach always said that we should not stop at momentary successes, constantly work on ourselves.
- Was he strict?
Why was? He is still strict. We call each other after each match of Alania, and he evaluates my game. He cuts the truth from the shoulder. His opinion is of great importance to me.
- Did you go to Gorokhov's in the days of "Forward" in favorites?
He didn't have any favorites. And most of all, perhaps, he drove his son, Sergei. But it was Valery Viktorovich who opened the door to the youth team of Russia for me, for which I will be forever grateful to him.
TEAM
- In the team in which you became the champion of the World Youth Games in Moscow?
About a year before the Games, the national team born in 1981 was at a tournament in Spain, where I played, to put it mildly, unconvincingly. Alexander Kuznetsov led the team, and Gorokhov was his assistant. They have a good lineup. Competition. Already when I was "unhooked", the team carried out qualifying tournament to the European Championship and made it to the final. In the autumn of 1997, a selection gathering took place in Novorossiysk, and Gorokhov persuaded Kuznetsov to invite me to it. Apparently, he showed himself well: he again entrenched himself in the national team and a few months later participated in the final part of the continental championship in Scotland. True, we performed unsuccessfully there: we did not leave the group, losing in the decisive match to the Ukrainians.
- So, victory at the World Youth Games oh your team rehabilitated in full?
In Moscow, we really played well. These competitions have become an unforgettable event. The whole of Russia was looking at us, and we had no right to let the fans down. Unfortunately, due to an injury, I missed the final match with the Turks, when Ruslan Pimenov scored the only winning goal. But he participated in all previous meetings.
- And returned to Vladikavkaz as a hero?
I'm not alone. At home, congratulations were also received by Veniamin Mandrykin, Alan Sakiev, Sergey Gorokhov and Hamlet Siukaev. Of all, only the last one was not in the "Forward": he is a graduate of the Youth Sports School. For the victory in Moscow, all the players of the national team received the title of master of sports, and as a gift from Russian President Boris Yeltsin - personalized watches. Players from Vladikavkaz at home were waiting for the same gift from the President of North Ossetia Alexander Dzasokhov.
- But then you stopped getting into the youth team. Why?
The reason is not in the game, but in well-being. For some reason, I began to get tired quickly, and during one of the examinations, one of the doctors suggested that I had heart problems. All in all, bad memories.
- And the idea that you will have to part with football, did not flash?
No. My heart has never hurt. I realized that there is some misunderstanding here. It soon became clear: the causes of strange fatigue are in the transitional age and the characteristics of the body. In a little over a year, I immediately grew by 15 centimeters, and the weight quickly began to gain. In Vladikavkaz, he continued to play for his team, but so far everything was reduced to the correct denominator, he left his youthful age.
- Have you already been called up to the youth team?
Valery Gladilin invited me there for the first time, but I started playing under Valery Gazzaev. With Yugoslavia, Luxembourg, Slovenia... We began to win, and there was a real chance to get into the final part of the European Championship. But, unfortunately, we drew with the Swiss and missed the chance. I'm in last game did not participate in that qualifying round due to disqualification. I almost cried: winning two goals, we could not keep the advantage!
- What did you feel when Valery Gazzaev, appointed head coach of the Russian national team, included you in an extended list of candidates for national team?
It was very pleasant, but I understood very well that before main team I still have to grow and grow, that I will be given a chance to prove myself in the youth team.
- And in the match with Ireland, they tried, as they say, to take the bull by the horns - and they scored a goal, and in general they played very well ...
That match was a success for the whole team. Main coach Andrei Chernyshov set us up for a stubborn struggle, reminded us that young Irishmen are very dangerous. It seems that we coped with his installation and deservedly won.
- Your team confidently beat the Georgian team in Tbilisi, but the Albanians in Volgograd - with great difficulty...
Yes, if it weren't for Trifonov's goal at the end of the match, they could have lost points ... Of course, they won on the case: to inflict about three dozen shots on goal and not score - the height of injustice. So Trifonov's ball was the logical conclusion of our efforts. And the pass to him from a free kick was made by Kuzmin, who, by the way, four years ago was, like me, the champion of the World Youth Games. On the other hand, don't let our minimal victory confuse anyone. Albanians are not whipping boys. In any case, they looked much stronger than the Georgians.
- Is it interesting to train with Chernyshov?
Highly. Perhaps I am not yet entitled to give such assessments, but this is a European-style coach who professes modern football.
- What do you think, what will be able to achieve his team?
To start the main thing is to win group tournament. And whose "youth team" is stronger, will finally judge final part European championship.
"ALANIA"
- In "Alania" you got when the stellar years of the Vladikavkaz team were already behind. Didn't you regret that you weren't born about seven years earlier?
Why should I regret it? In 1995, my peers and I, by the way, also contributed to the Spartak-Alania championship.
- ?
I'm kidding, of course. Although I had to be almost a direct participant in the team's home matches. The children from the Spartak Sports School were placed on the treadmills to serve balls that had flown out of bounds. Arthur Pagaev or Omari Tetradze are running, hurrying: "Hey, boy, come on faster!" Give them the ball and from happiness - in seventh heaven. As if he himself was one step closer to the gold medals of the Russian championship. In Vladikavkaz, long before the end of the 1995 season, they were sure that Spartak-Alania would not miss the lead. We, of course, served balls to the opponents of our team. There was a case when they did it so quickly, and they so swiftly carried out an attack and scored a goal against Khapov, that Gazzaev, they said, “scold” the coaches of the Spartak Sports School for our excessive activity after the match.
- When you served balls to future champions, did you ever dream of playing next to them?
Sweet dreams, of course, warmed the soul. I think, like every Vladikavkaz boy. However, you never know what you could dream of in those years! But fortune was favorable to me: I ended up on the same team with Pagaev, Agaev, Tetradze, Sikoev, the champions of Russia. And the captain of the golden team of Vladikavkaz Bahva Tedeev last season was appointed head coach of Alania, and he became Bahva Otarovich for everyone.
- And how did your career start in Alania?
As expected at that time - from Alania-2. It was a kind of double of the main team, because then there were no reserve tournaments. First appeared there in the 97th. He played two seasons - in the third and second leagues. In 1999 he played for the Vladikavkaz "Iriston", from there I was invited, as they say, "under the base".
- Do you remember the first game in the first team?
To the smallest detail. It was June 18, 2000, when Alania was headed by Alexander Averyanov. He released me as a substitute in the duel with Uralan 25 minutes before final whistle instead of Seagull. In that match, our team looked unconvincing, drawing with an outsider who was relegated to the first division at the finish line. And I spent the full 90 minutes three weeks after the debut - in Voronezh with Fakel. Then there was also a draw.
- In Alania you spent three seasons, and in all three teams you fought for survival. Agree, not a very pleasant occupation ...
Of course, there is nothing attractive in it. But in 2000, we secured ourselves from relegation long before the finish line, in the past and this season, too, figuratively speaking, we didn’t breathe into our incense. I think that among the fans of North Ossetia there were hardly pessimists who predicted a sad fate for us. Had this happened, the Republican Stadium would not have been the most visited in Russia in the last championship. And in 2001, it was filled with constancy, which, say, any Moscow stadium would envy. And if the fans believed in us, then what can we say about the players themselves, "Alania"?
– But the nerves of “Alania” to their fans still pretty patted.
It's hard to disagree with your statement. Moreover, we ourselves created difficulties for ourselves in order to overcome them later. For example, in the season ended, when Boris Ignatiev and Bakhva Tedeev headed the team, instilling confidence in it, we could get away from danger zone at a respectful distance. However, having given out a six-match unbeaten streak, then they could not win in four fights in a row. And everything went down the drain.
- Where did the belief in a successful outcome of the championship come from?
Firstly, Alania had an excellent coaching tandem. Secondly, our team had a real leader - Omari Tetradze. Thirdly, during the period of additional applications in Vladikavkaz, a forward duet of Demetradze - Ashvetia appeared.
- The last one for you personally, apparently, turned out to be very useful?
And don't speak! In the last two seasons, I had to play many times as a striker - we simply did not have nominal forwards. It's nice to score, of course, but that's not my place. I feel much more comfortable in the center of the field with an eye on the attack.
On a four with a minus. good matches alternated with very inexpressive ones.
- So, Boris Ignatiev was right, he once told me: “Today Kusov acted well. But please, don’t praise him especially in SE, otherwise next game don't know"?
You can't argue with Boris Petrovich - it was like that. But, believe me, this is not at all from arrogance. This happened by some fateful coincidence. I understand that this does not make it easier for the team, so I tried to draw the necessary conclusions. But, unfortunately, they did not always help.
- Do you agree with the opinion of many experts: Kusov - one of the discoveries of the last championship?
Maybe the specialists know better, but if I myself give myself a four with a minus for the championship, then my attitude towards their point of view is skeptical. Self-esteem, I think, in a person's life has the main meaning.
DREAMS
- Do you remember childhood dreams?
I did not think about a possible future profession. I'm sorry, I didn't want to be a policeman, I didn't want to be a lawyer like my elder brother. I wasn’t attracted to my father’s chauffeur’s work either, my mother’s school pedagogy didn’t appeal at all. In general, he grew up without any special aspirations, until soccer ball didn't look seriously. But I always wanted to have many friends.
- And this wish came true?
Fortunately, yes. Even when I was walking under the table, one might say, I had devoted comrades. I still communicate with some "classmates" from kindergarten. What then to say about classmates or guys with whom he grew up in the same yard!
Well, football brought new friends - SDUSHOR "Youth" and "Spartak", "Forward", "Iriston", double "Alania", the main team, youth and youth teams ...
Do you celebrate victories with friends?
Certainly. Only without a drop of alcohol. Believe it or not, I never drank an ounce of wine or smoked a single cigarette in my life. The soul does not even lie in this holidays. Sometimes I drink Ossetian beer. Non-alcoholic.
- Do you like to eat?
That's all right. Ossetian cuisine, I think, is the best in the world. Most of all I like lyvzha - soup with meat and various spices.
- What about the famous Ossetian pies?
Well, it goes without saying! Not a single feast is complete without them. Three pies are served to the table. They symbolize earth, air and water. In a word, life. Ossetian pies are to the liking of all my friends who play in other teams. He supplied Kerzhakov, Kudryashov, Pimenov and others with them on the way back when they flew to Vladikavkaz with their teams for matches.
- Are you generally inseparable friends with Ruslan Pimenov?
Inseparable? It's a little wrong to say - after all, we play in different teams. We call up - yes, often, we talk about this and that. I recently congratulated him on the Lokomotiv championship. True, a little earlier, “Alania” took away two points from the railway workers and could well ruin their golden holiday.
- There is an opinion that it was best match Vladikavkaz team last season...
Eh, if we always played like this, we would definitely compete for the prize-winning place. Loko players were very upset, but this, of course, did not affect our relations with Pimenov. I gave him the pies for the journey. It is a pity that we did not manage to sit at the same table: the railway workers immediately flew to Moscow. Otherwise, I would have treated him at home with other dishes of Ossetian cuisine.
- And, apparently, it would be ideal if your beloved wife would serve these dishes to the table ...
I don't have a wife. I do not welcome early marriages: you need to stand firmly on your feet in order to feed your family.
- And I heard that another circumstance keeps you from marriage. Your older brother is not yet married, and according to Ossetian law, the younger brother must wait in this case ...
There is such a law. However, not everyone observes it now, and I would not wait until Oleg chooses his betrothed either. I just have different principles: although Engels claimed that the family is the cell of society, I am in no hurry to please it. Now all thoughts are occupied with football.
- Has come New Year. What toast did you raise at the festive table?
- It is not customary to "toast" with a glass of non-alcoholic beer. But, of course, I made wishes on New Year's Eve. Too many misfortunes have befallen North Ossetia in the past year - terrorist acts, floods, glaciers that claimed human lives. So, let this never happen again.
Pupil of the Vladikavkaz Sports School "Youth" and "Spartak". The first coaches were Igor Osinkin, Gennady Lyubochkin and Valery Gorokhov. He played for the teams of the team "Alania" Vladikavkaz (2000 - 2002, 2003 - 2005), CSKA (2003), "Spartak" Chelyabinsk (2005), "Terek" Grozny (since 2006). Champion of Russia in 2003. He played 1 match for the Russian national team. He played 6 matches for the Russian Olympic team and scored 1 goal.
"Hey boy, hurry up!" - Omari Tetradze and Artur Pagaev hurried when he and his peers from the Spartak Sports School served balls from out of bounds at a crowded Vladikavkaz stadium. There was a championship for "Alania" season-95. He looked at the idols, not assuming that he would someday play next to them. Good to play. Last year, he was among the best in Alania, becoming one of the discoveries of the 2002 championship. And the new season will start in CSKA.
FAMILY
- Alan ... With such a name, apparently, God himself ordered to play for "Alania"?
When I was born, the main team of North Ossetia was called Spartak. Parents were cool about football. But maybe they had a presentiment that I would link fate with this game? (Smiling.) A joke, of course. The name by which I was called is very common among us. The Alans are the ancestors of today's Ossetians, proud and courageous people. Just please don't write "Alans", as they often do in the press. This is wrong, and the inhabitants of the republic are offended. They honor the history of their people, so they call the kids that name.
- Freestyle wrestling is very popular in Ossetia. Parents were cool about football - but didn’t they want to see you on the wrestling mat?
No. They generally did not persuade children to sports hobbies. They just wanted us to study well, grow up as honest people, and choose a profession to our liking. My father worked as a driver for many years, he drove KamAZ, but it seems he never dreamed that his sons would follow in his footsteps. In the end, it turned out, almost like in that joke. (Laughs.)
- In which?
And remember: the father had three sons ...
- ...two smart ones, and the third player?
Exactly! It's just different in our family. Football was chosen by two of the three sons. My younger brother Arthur this year graduated from a secondary school and the Spartak Sports School, and recently began training with Alania's team. And the older brother Oleg has nothing to do with football. But he is not just smart, but very smart. At the age of 23, he has two university diplomas: he managed to unlearn law and history at the same time. Internally and in absentia. Now he is looking for a suitable place for the legal part, and history, so to speak, for the soul. This subject was one of his favorites at school.
- What school subject did you like?
Little bit of everything. Of course, I could not keep up with my older brother in comprehension of knowledge - he does not have a head, but the Lenin Library. But somewhere until the ninth grade and I studied well. First, it was interesting to learn something new. And, secondly, the status obliged.
- ?
Mom is the head teacher of the school where my brothers and I studied. Plus, she taught the Ossetian language in our classes. You understand, to slovenly, having the status of the son of the head teacher, would be at least incorrect. In general, for the time being, I gnawed school subjects for fours and fives, but then football began to take too much time, and academic performance decreased. Mom, of course, was unhappy, but she had to put up with it. Arthur was more fortunate.
- In what sense?
When he followed my path, my mother was already used to the fact that serious football requires sacrifices in the form of lower school grades. And her attitude to the football hobby of her youngest son was completely different. And I suffered at the time. In our yard every evening they played hole-holes. At that time I didn’t even think about SDUSHOR, but I wanted to run around. It used to be that you learn the lessons, but "for dessert" mom will save the original requirement: read 30 pages of text, memorize it well and retell it to her. Only then - walk quietly.
- Were the texts difficult to offer?
At your own discretion. But when you wanted to go outside, it was the same as reading and retelling - even "Mumu", even an article from a reference book on cybernetics.
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA
- So, by today's standards, you came to "civilized" football late?
At the age of 12 and completely by accident. A friend once went to sign up for the Youth Sports School and invited me to go with him. They looked at me and left me. He studied with two coaches: first with Igor Osinkin, then with Gennady Lyubochkin. About a year passed, he moved to the Spartak Sports School to Valery Gorokhov.
- How did the new school and the new coach “bribe” you?
At the Spartak school, Valery Viktorovich organized the Forward children's football club, whose plans included participation in major international tournaments. Before, I had never traveled further than Mozdok (a regional center in North Ossetia. - Approx. S.K.), and then only a month passed - and a trip to the USA! It was in the summer of 1994.
- Well, how did you conquer America?
Conquered! They handed us the appropriate prize for winning the America's Cup. By the way, more than 1000 children's teams participated in this tournament from all over the world. “Forward” was the strongest in his age group. When we flew home and waited to board the plane, everyone at the Chicago airport looked at us with great interest - they were so small, but the cup was being carried so huge. They considered it and, apparently, considering that we had done a great job, they began to applaud in unison. It was very nice.
- Were you also met with honors at home?
They praised him and gave him a cash prize. They say that Valery Georgievich Gazzaev himself did his best, the head coach of the Vladikavkaz Spartak, the future Alania. Gorokhov seemed to have been told to save money for the next trip, but he decided otherwise: we divided everything equally among ourselves. That's how I got my first football salary. He brought the money home and gave it to his parents.
- And in the future, what were the successes of the “Forward”?
Solid. True, we were no longer paid bonuses - they apparently decided that this was pampering. Maybe they made the right decision. And now the kids are enrolling in the football section with one thought: a football player earns a lot. Moreover, they want money as quickly as possible, as much as possible and at the lowest cost of physical and mental strength. We in the “Forward”, to be honest, thought about distant countries. And, of course, how to win in these countries. The team was quite good: from 1994 to 1998 we always became winners or prize-winners of various tournaments. Again in the USA, several times in Scotland, Wales, Italy, Spain. They beat peers from well-known European clubs - Celtic, Blackburn, Dundee United, Aberdeen, Napoli, Middlesbrough...
- What position did you play in Gorokhov's team?
Right midfielder. However, it's not about the position, although I really liked the place of the extreme midfielder. Several years spent with Valery Viktorovich taught me to truly love football, to put all the strength that you have into it. Our coach always said that we should not stop at momentary successes, constantly work on ourselves.
- Was he strict?
Why was? He is still strict. We call each other after each match of Alania, and he evaluates my game. He cuts the truth from the shoulder. His opinion is of great importance to me.
- Did you go to Gorokhov's in the days of "Forward" in favorites?
He didn't have any favorites. And most of all, perhaps, he drove his son, Sergei. But it was Valery Viktorovich who opened the door to the youth team of Russia for me, for which I will be forever grateful to him.
TEAM
- In the team in which you became the champion of the World Youth Games in Moscow?
About a year before the Games, the national team born in 1981 was at a tournament in Spain, where I played, to put it mildly, unconvincingly. Alexander Kuznetsov led the team, and Gorokhov was his assistant. They have a good lineup. Competition. Already when I was "unhooked", the team held a qualifying tournament for the European Championship and got into the final. In the autumn of 1997, a selection gathering took place in Novorossiysk, and Gorokhov persuaded Kuznetsov to invite me to it. Apparently, he showed himself well: he again entrenched himself in the national team and a few months later participated in the final part of the continental championship in Scotland. True, we performed unsuccessfully there: we did not leave the group, losing in the decisive match to the Ukrainians.
- So, your team was fully rehabilitated by the victory at the World Youth Games?
In Moscow, we really played well. These competitions have become an unforgettable event. The whole of Russia was looking at us, and we had no right to let the fans down. Unfortunately, due to an injury, I missed the final match with the Turks, when Ruslan Pimenov scored the only winning goal. But he participated in all previous meetings.
- And returned to Vladikavkaz as a hero?
I'm not alone. At home, congratulations were also received by Veniamin Mandrykin, Alan Sakiev, Sergey Gorokhov and Hamlet Siukaev. Of all, only the last one was not in the "Forward": he is a graduate of the Youth Sports School. For the victory in Moscow, all the players of the national team received the title of master of sports, and as a gift from Russian President Boris Yeltsin - personalized watches. Players from Vladikavkaz at home were waiting for the same gift from the President of North Ossetia Alexander Dzasokhov.
- But then you stopped getting into the youth team. Why?
The reason is not in the game, but in well-being. For some reason, I began to get tired quickly, and during one of the examinations, one of the doctors suggested that I had heart problems. All in all, bad memories.
- And the idea that you will have to part with football, did not flash?
No. My heart has never hurt. I realized that there is some misunderstanding here. It soon became clear: the causes of strange fatigue are in the transitional age and the characteristics of the body. In a little over a year, I immediately grew by 15 centimeters, and the weight quickly began to gain. In Vladikavkaz, he continued to play for his team, but so far everything was reduced to the correct denominator, he left his youthful age.
- Have you already been called up to the youth team?
Valery Gladilin invited me there for the first time, but I started playing under Valery Gazzaev. With Yugoslavia, Luxembourg, Slovenia... We began to win, and there was a real chance to get into the final part of the European Championship. But, unfortunately, we drew with the Swiss and missed the chance. I did not participate in the last game of that qualifying round due to disqualification. I almost cried: winning two goals, we could not keep the advantage!
- What did you feel when Valery Gazzaev, who was appointed head coach of the Russian national team, included you in the extended list of candidates for the national team?
It was very pleasant, but I understood very well that I still had to grow and grow to the main team, that I would be given a chance to prove myself in the youth team.
- And in the match with Ireland, they tried, as they say, to take the bull by the horns - and they scored a goal, and in general they played very well ...
That match was a success for the whole team. Head coach Andrey Chernyshov set us up for a tough fight, reminded us that young Irishmen are very dangerous. It seems that we coped with his installation and deservedly won.
- Your team confidently beat the Georgian team in Tbilisi, but the Albanians in Volgograd - with great difficulty...
Yes, if it weren't for Trifonov's goal at the end of the match, they could have lost points ... Of course, they won on the case: to inflict about three dozen shots on goal and not score - the height of injustice. So Trifonov's ball was the logical conclusion of our efforts. And the pass to him from a free kick was made by Kuzmin, who, by the way, four years ago was, like me, the champion of the World Youth Games. On the other hand, don't let our minimal victory confuse anyone. Albanians are not whipping boys. In any case, they looked much stronger than the Georgians.
- Is it interesting to train with Chernyshov?
Highly. Perhaps I am not yet entitled to give such assessments, but this is a European-style coach who professes modern football.
- What do you think, what will be able to achieve his team?
For starters, the main thing is to win the group stage. And whose “youth team” is stronger, the final part of the European Championship will finally decide.
"ALANIA"
- In "Alania" you got when the stellar years of the Vladikavkaz team were already behind. Didn't you regret that you weren't born about seven years earlier?
Why should I regret it? In 1995, my peers and I, by the way, also contributed to the Spartak-Alania championship.
- ?
I'm kidding, of course. Although I had to be almost a direct participant in the team's home matches. The children from the Spartak Sports School were placed on the treadmills to serve balls that had flown out of bounds. Arthur Pagaev or Omari Tetradze are running, hurrying: "Hey, boy, come on faster!" Give them the ball and from happiness - in seventh heaven. As if he himself was one step closer to the gold medals of the Russian championship. In Vladikavkaz, long before the end of the 1995 season, they were sure that Spartak-Alania would not miss the lead. We, of course, served balls to the opponents of our team. There was a case when they did it so quickly, and they so swiftly carried out an attack and scored a goal against Khapov, that Gazzaev, they said, “scold” the coaches of the Spartak Sports School for our excessive activity after the match.
- When you served balls to future champions, did you ever dream of playing next to them?
Sweet dreams, of course, warmed the soul. I think, like every Vladikavkaz boy. However, you never know what you could dream of in those years! But fortune was favorable to me: I ended up on the same team with Pagaev, Agaev, Tetradze, Sikoev, the champions of Russia. And the captain of the golden team of Vladikavkaz Bahva Tedeev last season was appointed head coach of Alania, and he became Bahva Otarovich for everyone.
- And how did your career start in Alania?
As expected at that time - from Alania-2. It was a kind of double of the main team, because then there were no reserve tournaments. First appeared there in the 97th. He played two seasons - in the third and second leagues. In 1999 he played for the Vladikavkaz "Iriston", from there I was invited, as they say, "under the base".
- Do you remember the first game in the first team?
To the smallest detail. It was June 18, 2000, when Alania was headed by Alexander Averyanov. He released me as a substitute in the duel with Uralan 25 minutes before the final whistle instead of Chaika. In that match, our team looked unconvincing, drawing with an outsider who was relegated to the first division at the finish line. And I spent the full 90 minutes three weeks after the debut - in Voronezh with Fakel. Then there was also a draw.
- In Alania you spent three seasons, and in all three teams you fought for survival. Agree, not a very pleasant occupation ...
Of course, there is nothing attractive in it. But in 2000, we secured ourselves from relegation long before the finish line, in the past and this season, too, figuratively speaking, we didn’t breathe into our incense. I think that among the fans of North Ossetia there were hardly pessimists who predicted a sad fate for us. Had this happened, the Republican Stadium would not have been the most visited in Russia in the last championship. And in 2001, it was filled with constancy, which, say, any Moscow stadium would envy. And if the fans believed in us, then what can we say about the players themselves, "Alania"?
– But the nerves of “Alania” to their fans still pretty patted.
It's hard to disagree with your statement. Moreover, we ourselves created difficulties for ourselves in order to overcome them later. For example, in the last season, when the team was headed by Boris Ignatiev and Bahva Tedeev, instilling confidence in it, even in the summer we could leave the danger zone at a respectful distance. However, having given out a six-match unbeaten streak, then they could not win in four fights in a row. And everything went down the drain.
- Where did the belief in a successful outcome of the championship come from?
Firstly, Alania had an excellent coaching tandem. Secondly, our team had a real leader - Omari Tetradze. Thirdly, during the period of additional applications in Vladikavkaz, a forward duet of Demetradze - Ashvetia appeared.
- The last one for you personally, apparently, turned out to be very useful?
And don't speak! In the last two seasons, I had to play many times as a striker - we simply did not have nominal forwards. It's nice to score, of course, but that's not my place. I feel much more comfortable in the center of the field with an eye on the attack.
On a four with a minus. Good matches alternated with very inexpressive ones.
- So, Boris Ignatiev was right when he once told me: “Today Kusov acted well. But please, don’t praise him in SE, otherwise you won’t recognize him in the next game”?
You can't argue with Boris Petrovich - it was like that. But, believe me, this is not at all from arrogance. This happened by some fateful coincidence. I understand that this does not make it easier for the team, so I tried to draw the necessary conclusions. But, unfortunately, they did not always help.
- Do you agree with the opinion of many experts: Kusov - one of the discoveries of the last championship?
Maybe the specialists know better, but if I myself give myself a four with a minus for the championship, then my attitude towards their point of view is skeptical. Self-esteem, I think, in a person's life has the main meaning.
DREAMS
- Do you remember childhood dreams?
I did not think about a possible future profession. I'm sorry, I didn't want to be a policeman, I didn't want to be a lawyer like my elder brother. I wasn’t attracted to my father’s chauffeur’s work either, my mother’s school pedagogy didn’t appeal at all. In general, he grew up without much aspirations, until he seriously looked at the soccer ball. But I always wanted to have many friends.
- And this wish came true?
Fortunately, yes. Even when I was walking under the table, one might say, I had devoted comrades. I still communicate with some "classmates" from kindergarten. What then to say about classmates or guys with whom he grew up in the same yard!
Well, football brought new friends - SDUSHOR "Youth" and "Spartak", "Forward", "Iriston", double "Alania", the main team, youth and youth teams ...
Do you celebrate victories with friends?
Certainly. Only without a drop of alcohol. Believe it or not, I never drank an ounce of wine or smoked a single cigarette in my life. Soul to this does not lie even on holidays. Sometimes I drink Ossetian beer. Non-alcoholic.
- Do you like to eat?
That's all right. Ossetian cuisine, I think, is the best in the world. Most of all I like lyvzha - soup with meat and various spices.
- What about the famous Ossetian pies?
Well, it goes without saying! Not a single feast is complete without them. Three pies are served to the table. They symbolize earth, air and water. In a word, life. Ossetian pies are to the liking of all my friends who play in other teams. He supplied Kerzhakov, Kudryashov, Pimenov and others with them on the way back when they flew to Vladikavkaz with their teams for matches.
- Are you generally inseparable friends with Ruslan Pimenov?
Inseparable? It's a little wrong to say - after all, we play in different teams. We call up - yes, often, we talk about this and that. I recently congratulated him on the Lokomotiv championship. True, a little earlier, “Alania” took away two points from the railway workers and could well ruin their golden holiday.
- There is an opinion that it was the best match of the Vladikavkaz team last season...
Eh, if we always played like this, we would definitely compete for the prize-winning place. Loko players were very upset, but this, of course, did not affect our relations with Pimenov. I gave him the pies for the journey. It is a pity that we did not manage to sit at the same table: the railway workers immediately flew to Moscow. Otherwise, I would have treated him at home with other dishes of Ossetian cuisine.
- And, apparently, it would be ideal if your beloved wife would serve these dishes to the table ...
I don't have a wife. I do not welcome early marriages: you need to stand firmly on your feet in order to feed your family.
- And I heard that another circumstance keeps you from marriage. Your older brother is not yet married, and according to Ossetian law, the younger brother must wait in this case ...
There is such a law. However, not everyone observes it now, and I would not wait until Oleg chooses his betrothed either. I just have different principles: although Engels claimed that the family is the cell of society, I am in no hurry to please it. Now all thoughts are occupied with football.
- It's a new year. What toast did you raise at the festive table?
- It is not customary to "toast" with a glass of non-alcoholic beer. But, of course, I made wishes on New Year's Eve. Too many misfortunes have befallen North Ossetia in the past year - terrorist acts, floods, glaciers that claimed human lives. So, let this never happen again.
Kusov Alan Taimurazovich. Midfielder
Pupil of the Vladikavkaz Sports School "Youth" and "Spartak". The first coaches were Igor Osinkin, Gennady Lyubochkin and Valery Gorokhov.
He played for the teams of the team "Alania-d" Vladikavkaz (1997 - 1998), "Iriston" Vladikavkaz (1999), "Alania" Vladikavkaz (2000 - 2002, 2003 - 2005), CSKA (2003), "Spartak" Chelyabinsk (2005) , Zvezda Irkutsk (2008), Standard Baku, Azerbaijan (2008 - 2009), Anji Makhachkala (2009), Torpedo Moscow (2010), Alania-d Vladikavkaz (2011), Luch- Energy" Vladivostok (2011 - 2012), "Lokomotiv" Tashkent, Uzbekistan (2013 - 2014), "Dolgoprudny" Dolgoprudny (2014 - ...).
Champion of Russia 2003
He played 1 match for the Russian national team.
(He played 6 matches for the Russian Olympic team, scored 1 goal. * )
PROUD NAME
"Hey boy, hurry up!" - Omari Tetradze and Artur Pagaev hurried when he and his peers from the Spartak Sports School served balls from out of bounds at a crowded Vladikavkaz stadium. There was a championship for "Alania" season-95. He looked at the idols, not assuming that he would someday play next to them. Good to play. Last year, he was among the best in Alania, becoming one of the discoveries of the 2002 championship. And the new season will start in CSKA.
Alan... With such a name, apparently, God himself ordered to play for "Alania"?
When I was born, the main team of North Ossetia was called Spartak. Parents were cool about football. But maybe they had a presentiment that I would link fate with this game? (Smiling.) A joke, of course. The name by which I was called is very common among us. The Alans are the ancestors of today's Ossetians, proud and courageous people. Just please don't write "Alans", as they often do in the press. This is wrong, and the inhabitants of the republic are offended. They honor the history of their people, so they call the kids that name.
Freestyle wrestling is very popular in Ossetia. Parents were cool about football - but didn’t they want to see you on the wrestling mat?
No. They generally did not persuade children to sports hobbies. They just wanted us to study well, grow up as honest people, and choose a profession to our liking. Father worked as a driver for many years, drove KamAZ, but it seems he never dreamed that his sons would follow in his footsteps. In the end, it turned out, almost like in that joke. (Laughs.)
In which?
And remember: the father had three sons ...
Two smart, and the third player?
Exactly! It's just different in our family. Football was chosen by two of the three sons. My younger brother Arthur this year graduated from a secondary school and the Spartak Sports School, and recently began training with Alania's team. And the older brother Oleg has nothing to do with football. But he is not just smart, but very smart. At the age of 23, he has two university diplomas: he managed to unlearn law and history at the same time. Internally and in absentia. Now he is looking for a suitable place for the legal part, and history, so to speak, for the soul. This subject was one of his favorites at school.
What school subject did you like?
Little bit of everything. Of course, I could not keep up with my older brother in comprehension of knowledge - he does not have a head, but the Lenin Library. But somewhere until the ninth grade and I studied well. First, it was interesting to learn something new. And, secondly, the status obliged.
Mom is the head teacher of the school where my brothers and I studied. Plus, she taught the Ossetian language in our classes. You understand, to slovenly, having the status of the son of the head teacher, would be at least incorrect. In general, for the time being, I gnawed at school subjects for fours and fives, but then football began to take too much time, and academic performance decreased. Mom, of course, was unhappy, but she had to put up with it. Arthur was more fortunate.
In what sense?
When he followed my path, my mother was already used to the fact that serious football requires sacrifices in the form of lower school grades. And her attitude to the football hobby of her youngest son was completely different. And I suffered at the time. In our yard every evening they played hole-holes. At that time I didn’t even think about SDUSHOR, but I wanted to run around. It used to be that you learn the lessons, but "for dessert" mom will save the original requirement: read 30 pages of text, memorize it well and retell it to her. Only then - walk quietly.
Were the texts difficult?
At your own discretion. But when you wanted to go outside, it was the same as reading and retelling - even "Mumu", even an article from a reference book on cybernetics.
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA
So, by today's standards, you came to "civilized" football late?
At the age of 12 and completely by accident. A friend once went to sign up for the Youth Sports School and invited me to go with him. They looked at me and left me. He studied with two coaches: first with Igor Osinkin, then with Gennady Lyubochkin. About a year passed, he moved to the Spartak Sports School to Valery Gorokhov.
How did the new school and the new coach "bribe" you?
At the Spartak school, Valery Viktorovich organized the Forward children's football club, whose plans included participation in major international tournaments. Before, I had never traveled further than Mozdok (a regional center in North Ossetia. - Approx. S.K.), and then only a month passed - and a trip to the USA! It was in the summer of 1994.
Well, how did they conquer America?
Conquered! They handed us the appropriate prize for winning the America's Cup. By the way, more than 1000 children's teams participated in this tournament from all over the world. “Forward” was the strongest in his age group. When we flew home and waited to board the plane, everyone at the Chicago airport looked at us with great interest - they were so small, but the cup was being carried so huge. They considered it and, apparently, considering that we had done a great job, they began to applaud in unison. It was very nice.
Were you welcomed at home too?
They praised him and gave him a cash prize. They say that Valery Georgievich Gazzaev himself did his best, the head coach of the Vladikavkaz Spartak, the future Alania. Gorokhov seemed to have been told to save money for the next trip, but he decided otherwise: we divided everything equally among ourselves. That's how I got my first football salary. He brought the money home and gave it to his parents.
And in the future, what were the successes of the “Forward”?
Solid. True, we were no longer paid bonuses - they apparently decided that this was pampering. Maybe they made the right decision. And now the kids are enrolling in the football section with one thought: a football player earns a lot. Moreover, they want money as quickly as possible, as much as possible and at the lowest cost of physical and mental strength. We in the “Forward”, to be honest, thought about distant countries. And, of course, how to win in these countries. The team was quite good: from 1994 to 1998 we always became winners or prize-winners of various tournaments. Again in the USA, several times in Scotland, Wales, Italy, Spain. They beat peers from well-known European clubs - Celtic, Blackburn, Dundee United, Aberdeen, Napoli, Middlesbrough...
What position did you play in Gorokhov's team?
Right midfielder. However, it's not about the position, although I really liked the place of the extreme midfielder. Several years spent with Valery Viktorovich taught me to truly love football, to put all the strength that you have into it. Our coach always said that we should not stop at momentary successes, constantly work on ourselves.
Was it strict?
Why was? He is still strict. We call each other after each match of Alania, and he evaluates my game. He cuts the truth from the shoulder. His opinion is of great importance to me.
Did you go to Gorokhov's favorites during the time of the "Forward"?
He didn't have any favorites. And most of all, perhaps, he drove his son, Sergei. But it was Valery Viktorovich who opened the door to the youth team of Russia for me, for which I will be forever grateful to him.
TEAM
To the team in which you became the champion of the World Youth Games in Moscow?
About a year before the Games, the national team born in 1981 was at a tournament in Spain, where I played, to put it mildly, unconvincingly. Alexander Kuznetsov led the team, and Gorokhov was his assistant. They have a good lineup. Competition. Already when I was "unhooked", the team held a qualifying tournament for the European Championship and got into the final. In the autumn of 1997, a selection gathering took place in Novorossiysk, and Gorokhov persuaded Kuznetsov to invite me to it. Apparently, he showed himself well: he again entrenched himself in the national team and a few months later participated in the final part of the continental championship in Scotland. True, we performed unsuccessfully there: we did not leave the group, losing in the decisive match to the Ukrainians.
Does it mean that your team was fully rehabilitated by the victory at the World Youth Games?
In Moscow, we really played well. These competitions have become an unforgettable event. The whole of Russia was looking at us, and we had no right to let the fans down. Unfortunately, due to an injury, I missed the final match with the Turks, when Ruslan Pimenov scored the only winning goal. But he participated in all previous meetings.
And they returned to Vladikavkaz as a hero?
I'm not alone. At home, congratulations were also received by Veniamin Mandrykin, Alan Sakiev, Sergey Gorokhov and Hamlet Siukaev. Of all, only the last one was not in the "Forward": he is a graduate of the Youth Sports School. For the victory in Moscow, all the players of the national team received the title of master of sports, and as a gift from Russian President Boris Yeltsin - personalized watches. Players from Vladikavkaz at home were waiting for the same gift from the President of North Ossetia Alexander Dzasokhov.
But then you stopped getting into the youth team. Why?
The reason is not in the game, but in well-being. For some reason, I began to get tired quickly, and during one of the examinations, one of the doctors suggested that I had heart problems. All in all, bad memories.
And the idea that football will have to part, did not flash?
No. My heart has never hurt. I realized that there is some misunderstanding here. It soon became clear: the causes of strange fatigue are in the transitional age and the characteristics of the body. In a little over a year, I immediately grew by 15 centimeters, and the weight quickly began to gain. In Vladikavkaz, he continued to play for his team, but so far everything was reduced to the correct denominator, he left his youthful age.
Have you already been called up to the youth team?
Valery Gladilin invited me there for the first time, but I started playing under Valery Gazzaev. With Yugoslavia, Luxembourg, Slovenia... We began to win, and there was a real chance to get into the final part of the European Championship. But, unfortunately, we drew with the Swiss and missed the chance. I did not participate in the last game of that qualifying round due to disqualification. I almost cried: winning two goals, we could not keep the advantage!
What did you feel when Valery Gazzaev, appointed head coach of the Russian national team, included you in the extended list of candidates for the national team?
It was very pleasant, but I understood very well that I still had to grow and grow to the main team, that I would be given a chance to prove myself in the youth team.
And in the match with Ireland, they tried, as they say, to take the bull by the horns - and they scored a goal, and in general they played very well ...
That match was a success for the whole team. Head coach Andrey Chernyshov set us up for a tough fight, reminded us that young Irishmen are very dangerous. It seems that we coped with his installation and deservedly won.
Your team and the Georgian national team confidently beat in Tbilisi, but the Albanians in Volgograd - with great difficulty...
Yes, if not for Trifonov's goal at the end of the match, they could have lost points ... Of course, they won on the case: to inflict about three dozen shots on goal and not score - the height of injustice. So Trifonov's ball was the logical conclusion of our efforts. And the pass to him from a free kick was made by Kuzmin, who, by the way, four years ago was, like me, the champion of the World Youth Games. On the other hand, don't let our minimal victory confuse anyone. Albanians are not whipping boys. In any case, they looked much stronger than the Georgians.
Is it interesting to train with Chernyshov?
Highly. Perhaps I am not yet entitled to give such assessments, but this is a European-style coach who professes modern football.
What do you think his team can achieve?
For starters, the main thing is to win the group stage. And whose “youth team” is stronger, the final part of the European Championship will finally decide.
"ALANIA"
You ended up in Alania when the stellar years of the Vladikavkaz team were already over. Didn't you regret that you weren't born about seven years earlier?
Why should I regret it? In 1995, my peers and I, by the way, also contributed to the Spartak-Alania championship.
I'm kidding, of course. Although I had to be almost a direct participant in the team's home matches. The children from the Spartak Sports School were placed on the treadmills to serve balls that had flown out of bounds. Arthur Pagaev or Omari Tetradze are running, hurrying: "Hey, boy, come on faster!" Give them the ball and from happiness - in seventh heaven. As if he himself was one step closer to the gold medals of the Russian championship. In Vladikavkaz, long before the end of the 1995 season, they were sure that Spartak-Alania would not miss the lead. We, of course, served balls to the opponents of our team. There was a case when they did it so quickly, and they so swiftly carried out an attack and scored a goal against Khapov, that Gazzaev, they said, “scold” the coaches of the Spartak Sports School for our excessive activity after the match.
When you served balls to future champions, did you ever dream of playing next to them?
Sweet dreams, of course, warmed the soul. I think, like every Vladikavkaz boy. However, you never know what you could dream of in those years! But fortune was favorable to me: I ended up on the same team with Pagaev, Agaev, Tetradze, Sikoev, the champions of Russia. And the captain of the golden team of Vladikavkaz Bahva Tedeev last season was appointed head coach of Alania, and he became Bahva Otarovich for everyone.
And how did your career start in Alania?
As expected at that time - from Alania-2. It was a kind of double of the main team, because then there were no reserve tournaments. First appeared there in the 97th. He played two seasons - in the third and second leagues. In 1999 he played for the Vladikavkaz "Iriston", from there I was invited, as they say, "under the base".
Do you remember the first game in the first team?
To the smallest detail. It was June 18, 2000, when Alania was headed by Alexander Averyanov. He released me as a substitute in the duel with Uralan 25 minutes before the final whistle instead of Chaika. In that match, our team looked unconvincing, drawing with an outsider who was relegated to the first division at the finish line. And I spent the full 90 minutes three weeks after the debut - in Voronezh with Fakel. Then there was also a draw.
You spent three seasons in Alania, and in all three teams you fought for survival. Agree, not a very pleasant occupation ...
Of course, there is nothing attractive in it. But in 2000, we secured ourselves from relegation long before the finish line, in the past and this season, too, figuratively speaking, we didn’t breathe into our incense. I think that among the fans of North Ossetia there were hardly pessimists who predicted a sad fate for us. Had this happened, the Republican Stadium would not have been the most visited in Russia in the last championship. And in 2001, it was filled with constancy, which, say, any Moscow stadium would envy. And if the fans believed in us, then what can we say about the players themselves, "Alania"?
But the nerves of “Alania” to their fans still pretty patted.
It's hard to disagree with your statement. Moreover, we ourselves created difficulties for ourselves in order to overcome them later. For example, in the last season, when the team was headed by Boris Ignatiev and Bakhva Tedeev, instilling confidence in it, we could leave the danger zone at a respectful distance even in the summer. However, having given out a six-match unbeaten streak, then they could not win in four fights in a row. And everything went down the drain.
Where did the belief in a successful outcome of the championship come from?
Firstly, Alania had an excellent coaching tandem. Secondly, our team had a real leader - Omari Tetradze. Thirdly, during the period of additional applications in Vladikavkaz, a forward duet of Demetradze - Ashvetia appeared.
The last one for you personally, apparently, turned out to be very useful?
And don't speak! In the last two seasons, I had to play many times as a striker - we simply did not have nominal forwards. It's nice to score, of course, but that's not my place. I feel much more comfortable in the center of the field with an eye on the attack.
On a four with a minus. Good matches alternated with very inexpressive ones.
So, Boris Ignatiev was right when he once told me: “Today Kusov acted well. But please don’t praise him in SE, otherwise you won’t recognize him in the next game”?
You can't argue with Boris Petrovich - it was like that. But, believe me, this is not at all from arrogance. This happened by some fateful coincidence. I understand that this does not make it easier for the team, so I tried to draw the necessary conclusions. But, unfortunately, they did not always help.
Do you agree with the opinion of many experts: Kusov - one of the discoveries of the last championship?
Maybe the specialists know better, but if I myself give myself a four with a minus for the championship, then my attitude towards their point of view is skeptical. Self-esteem, I think, in a person's life has the main meaning.
Remember childhood dreams?
I did not think about a possible future profession. I'm sorry, I didn't want to be a policeman, I didn't want to be a lawyer like my elder brother. I wasn’t attracted to my father’s chauffeur’s work either, my mother’s school pedagogy didn’t appeal at all. In general, he grew up without much aspirations, until he seriously looked at the soccer ball. But I always wanted to have many friends.
And did this wish come true?
Fortunately, yes. Even when I was walking under the table, one might say, I had devoted comrades. I still communicate with some "classmates" from kindergarten. What then to say about classmates or guys with whom he grew up in the same yard!
Well, football brought new friends - SDUSHOR "Youth" and "Spartak", "Forward", "Iriston", double "Alania", the main team, youth and youth teams ...
Do you celebrate victories with friends?
Certainly. Only without a drop of alcohol. Believe it or not, I never drank an ounce of wine or smoked a single cigarette in my life. Soul to this does not lie even on holidays. Sometimes I drink Ossetian beer. Non-alcoholic.
Do you like to eat?
That's all right. Ossetian cuisine, I think, is the best in the world. Most of all I like lyvzha - soup with meat and various spices.
And the famous Ossetian pies?
Well, it goes without saying! Not a single feast is complete without them. Three pies are served to the table. They symbolize earth, air and water. In a word, life. Ossetian pies are to the liking of all my friends who play in other teams. He supplied Kerzhakov, Kudryashov, Pimenov and others with them on the way back when they flew to Vladikavkaz with their teams for matches.
Are you generally inseparable friends with Ruslan Pimenov?
Inseparable? It's a little wrong to say - after all, we play in different teams. We call up - yes, often, we talk about this and that. I recently congratulated him on the Lokomotiv championship. True, a little earlier, “Alania” took away two points from the railway workers and could well ruin their golden holiday.
There is an opinion that it was the best match of the Vladikavkaz team last season...
Eh, if we always played like this, we would definitely compete for the prize-winning place. Loko players were very upset, but this, of course, did not affect our relations with Pimenov. I gave him the pies for the journey. It is a pity that we did not manage to sit at the same table: the railway workers immediately flew to Moscow. Otherwise, I would have treated him at home with other dishes of Ossetian cuisine.
And, apparently, it would be ideal if your beloved wife would serve these dishes to the table ...
- I don't have a wife. I do not welcome early marriages: you need to stand firmly on your feet in order to feed your family.
And I heard that another circumstance is holding you back from marriage. Your older brother is not yet married, and according to Ossetian law, the younger brother must wait in this case ...
There is such a law. However, not everyone observes it now, and I would not wait until Oleg chooses his betrothed either. I just have different principles: although Engels claimed that the family is the cell of society, I am in no hurry to please it. Now all thoughts are occupied with football.
The new year has come. What toast did you raise at the festive table?
- It is not customary to "toast" with a glass of non-alcoholic beer. But, of course, I made wishes on New Year's Eve. Too many misfortunes have befallen North Ossetia in the past year - terrorist acts, floods, glaciers that claimed human lives. So, let this never happen again.
Sergey KAPUSTIN, Vladikavkaz - Stavropol. "Sport-Express", 01/10/2003
| FIRST | OLYMPUS | UNOFFICIAL | THE DATE | MATCH | FIELD | |||
| and | G | and | G | and | G | |||
| 1 | 1 | 07.09.2002 | RUSSIA - IRELAND - 2:0 • | d | ||||
| 2 | 11.10.2002 | GEORGIA - RUSSIA - 0:3 | G | |||||
| 3 | 16.10.2002 | RUSSIA - ALBANIA - 1:0 | d | |||||
| 1 | 13.02.2003 | ROMANIA - RUSSIA - 2:4 | n | |||||
| 4 | 29.03.2003 | ALBANIA - RUSSIA - 1:4 | G | |||||
| 5 | 05.09.2003 | IRELAND - RUSSIA - 2:0 | G | |||||
| 6 | 10.10.2003 | RUSSIA - GEORGIA - 3:2 | d | |||||
| FIRST | OLYMPUS | UNOFFICIAL | ||||||
| and | G | and | G | and | G | |||
| 1 | | 6 | 1 | | | |||