Alan Dzagoev: Slutsky called and said that I was the same age as him. I replied that I was still younger

The hero of Thursday, of course, was our birthday boy Alan Dzagoev, who received greetings from morning to evening yesterday, and some of them were very interesting.

— Alan, happy birthday to you on behalf of all the Army Men’s fans! Do you feel your age?
— Thank you! I am young, mischievous, full of energy, ready to move mountains (smiles). It's hard to say how old I feel, but now, at the beginning of the training camp — it's just great. I prepared well, at the end of last season everything was fine in terms of movement. I didn't feel that I'm old or that didn't keep up. I hope that I will get in even better shape due to new training camp. And I can be bold, as when I was young (smiles).

— Aleksey Vladimirovich, when he congratulated you, joked that even your mother does not know how old you are…
— Well, when I was born, my age was rewritten immediately on the same day (laughs). So, according to the passport, I'm thirty-one, but in fact I'm thirty-four or thirty-five. Leonid Viktorovich Slutsky also called — he said: «Well, are you really my age, Dzaga?» I answered: «Well, no, not yet» (laughs). These jokes are eternal, I take it absolutely fine. But seriously, there were a lot of calls, Roman Babayev, Viktor Hancharenka — everyone congratulated me. Everyone wishes health first of all, and I don't mind it myself. And as for the rest — will see.

— I know that you played one official match in your life on your birthday. Do you remember which one?
— (Thinks) Wasn't it for the Russia national team?

— That's right, with South Korea (1:1).
— Oh, well, I didn't play much that time, about fifteen minutes. But created a goal against Koreans (smiles). As I remember, this is really my only official match on my birthday. Mostly it fell either on the training camp, or when I was in the national team.

— Now it's time for the training camp. How is everything going with us now, what are your impressions from the first days with the new coach?
— Everything is according to the plan, we calmly entered the work, we did not start with hard trainings. Well, as for «not hard»: no matter how much you work out on vacation, no matter how much time you devote to it, working with a team is completely different, and the first days are hard for everyone in any case. You need to get used to the ball, to the field, to the partners. And as for me, Aleksey Vladimirovich starts everything slowly in the first days, so now everything is fine with us, he understands how it will be better for us.

— Did you manage to read any of the birthday wishes in social media?
— Yes, a lot. My wife and my friends sent me all these messages. I know that our Army Men's fans sincerely loved and love me. I want to thank them a lot once again, they have always supported me throughout my career, even though I sometimes made mistakes, got red cards, and got injured. I am immensely grateful to them all.

Roman Lyakhovenko