– There definitely wasn`t a good vibe once we were down 0:2, – says Yury Zhevnov. – We were quite shocked. It`s the beginning of the match and we`re already down 0-2. It wasn`t fun to start the match like that.
– What happened in the episode with first goal? Was the ball slippery, or did it bounce funny off the artificial turf?
– I don`t think it was slippery… It was completely my fault, and I don`t have any justification for it. Maybe the wind was a problem, because it was blowing behind my back, and maybe because of that the ball dived right in front of my hands, and had a different bounce than I was expecting. And instead of coming right to my palms, it hit the side of my hand… Of course you have to be ready for that, but you can`t foresee everything. It was my goal, I don`t deny that. Luck wasn`t on my side at that moment.
– After Sibir scored a second time you started running around the penalty box, and stretching… Were you trying to get out of your funk?
– No, my legs were just cold. They were wet, and they started getting even colder. That`s why I started moving around so much.
– What did you feel when Zenit managed to tie the score, and then go ahead on the third goal?
– Even 3:2 is a very dangerous score, and Sibir had several more good chances to score. But, honestly, I could see that we were controlling possession, and had the initiative. If we take away the first two goals, then we can say that we completely controlled the match. I think the most important thing was that we tied the score immediately, and went to halftime tied. That gave us the feeling that we could win. And in the second half we came out and used all our chances to make goals. So I think it felt more important to me when we tied the score. That was really important.
– After the match you talked for a long time with Mikhail Biryukov.
– Ya, we talked. Nothing special. He told me about my mistakes and explained how we`re going to fix them. He said the right things (smiles).
