– As soon as we beat Rostov and became champions Slava Malafeev told me that he wouldn`t fly to Kazan because of his injury, – said Dmitry Borodin. – I started getting ready then, understanding that I would most likely come onto the field. It`s probably a good thing that I found out about that ahead of time, and not two hours before the match. That way I was able to get prepared and practice well. I`m happy that I was given the starting job in our championship year.
– Did the match in Kazan go as you were expecting? Or did anything surprise you?
– You know, when the team won the championship, it got a little bit harder to play. All the more since Kazan really needed this victory. We were fighting for the club`s pride, but our opponent needed to win in order to make it directly to the group stage of next year`s Champions League. I figured there would be really strong pressure on our goal, that they would have a lot of free kicks and crosses. So the game went as I expected. Of course it`s too bad to be ahead 2:0 and just get a tie. But I`m proud of my team, and I`m happy that we were more likely to win 3:2 than to lose 2:3.
– What moment do you think was the most difficult?
– When the score was 2:2 we had to play another 25 minutes, and there was lots of stress. I didn`t want to lose in Kazan, and in general I`m happy that we won a point. The final league standings are justified: sometimes you gain points, sometimes you lost them, but at the end of the championship the match puts everything in its place. Each player did what they could.
– You have the chance to earn medals for both the main side and Zenit`s youth side this year. Do you consider this season to have been successful for you personally?
– I don`t think my games for the youth team had any effect on Davydov`s team. The medals that I hope the guys win will be their award, their accomplishment. I just asked to play sometimes, in order to have match practice. I needed that. If I didn`t play, then Andrey Zaitsev would have played. I`m not trying to take anything, I gave all my strength to the main side. And I`m really happy that I won the Russian championship at 33 years old. And that I`m a part of the team that became champion this year.
