Daniil, how is your recovery from injury going, when will you be back in full training?
Odoevskiy: Everything is mentally tough. Every day I call Mikhail Kerzhakov and ask about coming back to training...
Kerzhakov: I always say yes.
Odoevskiy: First I have my breakfast, then the hard work begins. Mentally it's tough, because you don't know how much more you can do, how long training will last.
I got injured, returned to the squad for the matches against Fakel and Spartak and really forced myself to get back, but after the match with Spartak, I had this pain again and it was even worse.
Who has the best eye sight?
Odoevskiy: I have good eye sight.
Kerzhakov: I'm probably more blind because I'm older and my eyes are already worn out. Do I feel like it's getting worse? No. I seem to pass the medical examinations fine.
Do goalkeepers train like outfield players? What is useful in that for goalkeepers?
Odoevskiy: I think in modern football and clubs, goalkeeper training is similar to the training of outfield players, you work with your feet for an hour. You participate in "squares" training, but in attacking stuff there is not much point. We just need to do what we do. But I have had this experience.
Kerzhakov: I have nothing more to add. But I didn't have any experience. Unless in childhood, where I played in attack, but without much movement.
Should outfield players train as goalkeepers?
Kerzhakov: I don't think so. What for?
To understand how hard it is to be in goal.
Kerzhakov: I think they still won't understand.
Do you have any favorite goalkeeper tricks?
Kerzhakov: I don't.
Odoevskiy: I have sort of ritual. During the game, I always adjust my gloves and when the attack is in the opponent's half. It's just a habit, maybe I calm myself down like that.
Do you often drink during the match and do you need a drink during a tense match?
Kerzhakov: In general, I almost never have a drink. There is a bottle for the outfield players to have a drink from. I try to have a drink before the game, during the game I don’t feel like it.
Odoevskiy: I don’t really want water, but sometimes I have a bottle for a game.
How do you feel when the opposition players come up and drink your water?
Kerzhakov: No problem. If a person wants to drink, let him have a drink.
What’s your main career goal?
Kerzhakov: I haven't decided yet.
Odoevskiy: I want to do my best in order to look back and say: I did the best that I could and reached as high as I could have done. I don’t want to think I could have been better, or behaved in a better way. My goal is to have a good and rewarding career and be able to turn around and say that I did my best.
Kerzhakov: Never turn around!
Mikhail, what were your goals when you were 19?
Kerzhakov: I didn't have such ambitious goals, they were inline with my ability, so not so high and just to take things step by step. At the age of 19, I already knew that it was hard to break into the Zenit first team as both Slava (Malafeev) and Kamil (Čontofalský ) were in the team, so it’s easier for Daniil (smiles).
What are your current goals?
Kerzhakov: At the age of 35 I want to play as many games as I can and to enjoy being on the pitch.
Were you afraid of the ball in childhood and how did you overcome it?
Odoevskiy: No.
Kerzhakov: I definitely didn’t have it in my childhood. On the contrary, it seems to have come along more with age. As a child, not at all.
Have you ever been knocked out by the ball?
Odoevskiy: Some have really wanted to knock me out, but it’s not happened yet.
Kerzhakov: Never lost consciousness, but there’s been a few bumps. Once I was kicked in the temple as I went for the ball, but you’re quickly back on your feet and back in the game.
Does Mikhail play practical jokes?
Odoevskiy: Mikhail doesn’t, at least not to me.
Kerzhakov: I still clean up the balls after him and carry the cones. No jokes.
What’s the reason behind your squad number?
Odoevskiy: I have Yegor Baburin's old number. They just told me I’d be number 71, and I took it. There’s no reason.
Kerzhakov: At first I was number 87, but I got a bad injury, so my brother said better to pick another number. So I chose 41 as the others were all taken.
Why did your brother say to change it?
Kerzhakov: It was like a sign, so I listened.
Do you always listen to your brother?
Kerzhakov: Probably not in everything, but in most things I do not listen.
Who is your role model and why?
Kerzhakov: When I was little I really liked Alexander Filimonov and I had his posters on my wall, he was a really charismatic goalkeeper. There wasn’t so much football on TV back then and there was no Internet. He was an exciting and cool ‘keeper. I didn't want to copy him completely, but I did even shave my head bald, no really, I'm serious.
Odoevskiy: I only want to say Kerzhakov (laughs). I didn't watch much football when I was a kid. I liked Ter Stegen, but I wouldn't say I was a fan of him or anyone else. But I really liked the way he played.
What was your best match?
Odoevskiy: Zenit v Rubin and Akhmat v Zenit (smiling). I haven’t had many of them and every match is great. Betis probably because of the atmosphere. I was standing in the subtribune, and there was a roar in the stands, very nice.
Kerzhakov: From recent matches, against Chelsea.
What qualities are important for your gloves?
Kerzhakov: I don’t like thin gloves, I always like thicker ones. This is the only quality I can really comment on. I feel uncomfortable in thin ones, for me the grip in them is a bit wrong.
Odoevskiy: On the contrary, I like tighter gloves that fit comfortably on the hand, I have the same feelings, just the other way around.
What is your boot size?
Kerzhakov: 44.5.
Odoevskiy: 44.5.
You can swap boots!
Kerzhakov: No. We have different technical sponsors.
Tell us about your best friends. At what age did you meet them and what do they do?
Odoevskiy: My best friend is a skier, now he’s travelling. Mikhail also knows him, Ivan Mizintsev. We met through friends. There is also one from the school.
Kerzhakov: Ilyukha Maksimov. We met when we were about 13 or 14 at a regional tournament, although he was from Moscow. Then we were both called-up together to the national team. He then moved to Zenit from a French club, and that’s it. We started chatting more and even though we now live in different cities, we still chat. In football, he’s my closest friend. There is another friend who lives with his grandmother in a village. We met when I was seven years old, he’s older than me. These are my best friends who have been with me since childhood.
What sort of school pupil were you?
Kerzhakov: I left school after the 7th grade and moved to a sports boarding school, UOR No. 1 in Khlopin. My training schedule did not really fit with my studies so I had to choose, so of course I chose football. I’m grateful to the teachers I had who helped me and let me do this. Before I left school I was a good pupil, I liked physics and mathematics, I was good at those.
Odoevskiy: I also studied at UOR No. 1 and have a similar story. My grandparents were strict, so I had to study hard. I was a good pupil up until I left.
Dogs or cats?
Odoevskiy: Both, I like dogs and cats. I've had cats all my life, but I want dogs. But I know what I’m like and I’m too lazy to get up in the morning and walk the dog. Cats are noisy at night, but they’re still cool.
Kerzhakov: Definitely, dogs.
What boot to you put on first? And what to do if during the match your lace is untied, and you you’re your gloves on.
Kerzhakov: I always start with the left one and so that they don’t come untied during the game, you just tie them into double knots, that’s for sure.
Odoevskiy: I’ve never thought about it. If it’s during the game, it’s simple, ask one of the players to tie it for me.
When was the last time you asked someone to tie your laces on the pitch?
Kerzhakov: A very long time ago. I don't remember.
Odoevskiy: In youth football only. But it does happen in training, even a couple of times they threatened me with a fine if my shoelaces were untied.
Are you ever late for training and are you fined for this?
Odoevskiy: Never.
Kerzhakov: I was late a few times, but there were no fines. I just escaped with a word because it wasn’t don’t on purpose or seriously late.
Whose poster were on your wall as a child?
Kerzhakov: I’ve already said, Filimonov. And Anna Kournikova will I was away at camp, but only then. I liked Kournikova.
Odoevskiy: I didn't have any posters.
Do you like tennis as a sport?
Kerzhakov: I’m not really into it, I’ve tried to play it, but I don't watch it.
Odoevskiy: I like table tennis more, it's more energetic. I played tennis for the first time in Spain and really liked it. And I’ve played in St. Petersburg.
NBA or NHL?
Odoevskiy: That’s very difficult. I like both, but I probably watch the NHL more. The NHL is more about the game, but how the players dress, behave and what they do off the court, I choose the NBA. But I like the NHL games more.
Kerzhakov: Neither. I'm not interested at all.
Do you have favourite teams in the NBA or NHL?
Odoevskiy: No, I just watch and don’t have any favourite teams. They play at night so I watch the highlights, like Ivan Sergeev does.
Why don’t goalkeepers wear caps anymore? They used to be quite common.
Kerzhakov: It was fashionable in the past, caps were really worn because of this, it was a fashion thing.
Did you ever play in a cap?
Kerzhakov: I tried as a child.
Odoevskiy: I tried to keep the sun out of my eyes.
Do you want to follow in your brother’s footsteps and become a manager?
Kerzhakov: So far I don’t want to.
Daniel, Tupac, Biggie, Wu-Tang or Onyx?
Odoevskiy: As a group, Onyx, I like their anger. But if I was to say one individual performer, then I like Method Man from Wu-Tang the most. I like the duet with Redman. Tupac or Biggi is a difficult question, I like Biggi's sound more, it's deeper, but both of them have some very cool tracks. But this is a very tough question.
Mikhail, Slipknot or Korn?
Kerzhakov: Slipknot.
Odoevskiy: The same.
Do you listen to Russian music?
Kerzhakov: Of course.
Odoevskiy: Only older stuff.
Do you listen to music before matches to get in the mood, or do you prefer silence?
Odoevskiy: Yes! I start with a calm rap song as we drive up to the stadium, when I see the stadium’s dome, I always turn on the same track, Limp Bizkit’s Break Stuff. When we get off the bus, I listen to the chorus to give me energy.
Kerzhakov: I listen to the radio on the bus, just standard music. For me, music is not that important.
Which country would you like to visit the most and which country do you like from where you have already been?
Kerzhakov: I have never been to the USA. I liked South America, Mexico and the Caribbean. I’ve been there many times. I didn't like Thailand at all.
Odoevskiy: I liked Germany, I was in Berlin and Italy too, that was cool.
Who is the best goalkeeper in Russia at the moment and why?
Kerzhakov: Daniil! I think overall it’s Akinfeev, he is exceptional. Why? That’s obvious.
Odoevskiy: Misha!
Kerzhakov: You can say, I won’t be offended.
Odoevskiy: Then I will agree with you and say Akinfeev.
Do you speak English?
Kerzhakov: Only as school level, I can probably explain at a bit.
Odoevskiy: Yes. But I only speak to Dejan Lovren. I think I can communicate and I started learning English through music, and then I started to learn grammar and sentences.
