Anton Shunin: "Dynamo gave me everything, it's a big part of my life"

— With what mood will you go to the match with Akron on Sunday?

— I think that in general there will be a good mood and positive emotions. Somewhere it will be nostalgia, but the emotions will definitely be good, because I have to visit my home arena again and feel this atmosphere at the match. I plan to participate in events and say goodbye to the fans, say kind words to them. It will be great!

— Fans will definitely be charging the chant "Shunin Antoha is a whole epoch." Do you remember how it was born?

— It was a difficult moment for me. We were playing with Zenit, Artyom Dzyuba came out one-on-one with me, shot into the corner, and in an attempt to save the goal I did the splits, getting injured. I was replaced, I was out for a while, and for the next match with Lokomotiv I went to the fan stand to support the team. And when I went there, the fans started chanting this chant. It was a big surprise for me – goosebumps all over my body, unforgettable and indescribable emotions.

— The era of Shunin is finishing in Dynamo, whose era is coming? Who do you like among the young players?

— I hope that Kostya Tyukavin will recover soon. Now he is not at the easiest moment in his career, when he was injured at the very peak. He will definitely score goals and help our club. I would like to wish him a speedy recovery, come back as soon as possible, score goals for everyone with the same confidence and move on.

— When did you finally decide to end your career? What kind of day was it?

— It didn't happen in one moment. At the end of last season, I was confident that I would continue to play. When I didn't sign a new contract with Dynamo, I understood that I had to look for a team and think about what to do next. But for some reason I wasn't sure that leaving for another team would be a good decision. All the options that I had, I did not consider seriously and realized that I would not be able to wear the shirt of another team. This is one of the reasons why I ended my career and did not go to another club.

— Professional sport is a constant discipline and limitations. What was the first thing you allowed yourself after making a decision?

— I have never lived by extremes and allowed myself everything that is allowed within the rules. Therefore, there was nothing like that. I immediately realized that I needed to continue training. I want to be in good physical shape, also get adrenaline and enjoy sports. Sport is my life.

Therefore, I continue to train and come up with new hobbies. Now I'm going to go learn to ride a motorcycle. I've always liked tennis, but it's only now that I've started training with a coach. A little more opportunities to travel, spend time with your family. In general, my life has not changed much in terms of the fact that I started to do something from what was not there before.

— Extreme sports are prohibited by contract. Is there something besides a motorcycle that you want to do?

— I learned to ski as a child, then I went snowboarding. And this winter I started skiing again, remembering the past. After completing my career, I had more time and the moment has come when I want to try everything new, find new hobbies.

— One of the new challenges is studying for a sports manager at the RFU Academy. How long do you have to study?

— The training lasts a year. There are a lot of cool speakers who share their experience, tell how they make their clubs better. You come with your project, then you are divided into teams of 7-8 people, and already from all the projects you choose one and lead it throughout the year. At the beginning of June we will be handing them over. It's an interesting experience, plus new acquaintances with football, interesting people.

— What kind of project will you defend?

— My project is related to infrastructure, the shortage of which remains both in Moscow and throughout Russia. The project is aimed at the territory of schools where football grounds are located. The idea was to help the principal of the school find an investor and put a good artificial surface, which the school will use in the morning and afternoon, and in the evening the investor will be able to recoup investments by renting out the object. As a result, the team supported me, and now the project is at the finishing stage.

— The game with Akron will be held under the banner "Anton Shunin Family Match". Will your whole family be at the stadium?

— Yes, my whole big family will come, including the youngest, Lev, who is not even two years old. This will be his first trip to football, and we are worried that he will take it well. There will be my children, my wife, all my relatives and friends.

— Lev Antonovich has a predetermined choice – a place in the goal and gloves?

— He is still small, but he loves to play ball very much. It's hard to say what he will like in the future. In no case will I insist. I'll see if he likes football or some other sport. If it's football, cool. And maybe someday he will play for Dynamo.

— Do elder children play sports?

— Our daughter is engaged in gymnastics, the eldest son is engaged in volleyball. He used to play hockey, tried football, even played in goal for a while. Now he is more attracted to volleyball – he likes it, and this is the most important thing. Our family vision is that children should do what they like. If a person likes his own work, then it will turn out better.

— On Sunday, the fans will hear your voice already at the entrance to the stadium – you voiced the announcement for the Dynamo metro station. How do you like this experience?

— This is a cool idea of Match TV and the Moscow Metro, which I really liked. It was the first time I took part in the voice acting, and everything turned out pretty quickly. I hope the fans will appreciate it. It seems to me that in general many metro stations can be voiced in different voices. When I was preparing, I found out that when moving towards the center and clockwise on the ring line, a male voice always sounds, and towards the region and counterclockwise, a female voice. This is made especially for blind passengers.

— Have you been invited to TV as an expert yet?

— Yes, many times, but I don't see myself as an expert on television. I understand that when a person speaks exceptionally well about everyone, it's not interesting to listen to such a comment. I know a lot of people from playing for the club and the national team, I understand how difficult our profession is, and criticizing football players is not my story. I don't want to be the person who will talk on television about how someone needs to play football.

— On Sunday there will be a match with Akron, in which Artem Dzyuba is a leader. He has wrecked a lot of nerves for you during your career. Did you have the most disliked striker?

— It is interesting that Artem Dzyuba will play against Andrei Lunev, his friend from games for Zenit and the national team. I just know their relationship: they used to always argue and play everything in general – penalty kicks, cards, dominoes, basketball and so on. Therefore, it will be interesting to see the confrontation between these two players.

As for my unloved striker, at one time it was very difficult to play against a pair of Kerzhakov and Arshavin. Especially against Sasha Kerzhakov, who later ended up at Dynamo. But I can't name any one football player I was uncomfortable playing against.

Probably, it is worth highlighting Dzyuba, with whom we passed both the youth, and the second, and the main Russian national team. Our paths constantly crossed and we often played against each other. He is a good striker who is still in great shape. I am sure our team will analyze his game as much as possible in order not to let him prove himself.

— How closely do you follow the Dynamo matches this season? Is it hard to watch the games from the stands?

— It's not always possible to watch the whole matches, but I don't miss game reviews. When there is an opportunity, I come to the stadium to cheer for the team. Of course, it wasn't easy at first, and that's partly why I didn't go to football matches. At some point I didn't want to watch anything at all, but time has passed, and now everything is fine. I will be happy to come to the stadium on May 18 to support our team.

— The team won the last two matches under the leadership of Rolan Gusev. You probably remember him as a player.

— When Rolan Alexandrovich first came to Dynamo, I told him: "You were my idol, I gave you the balls and watched you playing great on the flank." He had a good shot, he scored great goals – a very strong player with a great career.

— In the last two matches, many noted the organization of the game in defense and fiery attitude. Which coach in your career was the best motivator?

— There were a lot of motivators. Sandro Schwartz was not just a motivator, but also a person who always went into details thoroughly, told us very important things, and they helped us win matches. When he showed videos with goals and moments, he asked to include episodes with fans in them. It all charged us up and had a positive effect on us.

Stanislav Salamovich Cherchesov is definitely a motivator who knows how to charge the team so that it goes out on the football field to play from a position of strength. I can't help but highlight Marcel Licka in the last game against Krasnodar last season. Just before entering the field, he turned on a video where our families, wives, parents wished us good luck in the most important match for us, which, unfortunately, we did not win. Nevertheless, it was a lot of support from our loved ones, and this moment turned us on.

— You remembered last year's match with Krasnodar. Was last season the most emotional in your career?

— Of course, we were the closest to the championship, and it was the most difficult emotional moment. We got there for a long time, arrived a few days before the match. We understood that this is a championship game, and we, in fact, need at least a draw. It often happens that such moments play a bad role, because a team that only needs a victory will go ahead anyway.

And such thoughts still creep in that the main thing is not to lose. And if you start thinking that way, then, of course, the result will be appropriate. A lot of things didn't work out for us in that game, Krasnodar came out as the last fight and played great.

— Now the fans are divided into two camps. Some say that it is necessary to take revenge on Krasnodar for last year and deprive them of the championship, others – for Zenit not to become a champion once again. What category can you put yourself in?

— I would like the category "Based on your interests", and if there is a chance to get into the top three, and at the moment it remains, then you need to take the maximum number of points in two games. Rolan Alexandrovich already has six points in the first two matches, and if we manage to win these two games and get into the top three, then I think it will be a good result for this season.

— At the end a small blitz. The most joyful moment in your career.

— Every victory.

— The main Dynamo friend.

— There were a lot of them. The team changed, and in each period there were friends. There were moments when many guys left, and I felt that they would be missed, because I became attached to them. This moment comes for everyone, and it has come for me – this is life. I have a lot of friends at Dynamo, both among the staff and among the coaching staff. I've played with a lot of people, so I wouldn't like to single out one person.

— The most cheerful Dynamo player.

— Obviously one of the most fun is Volodya Granat. He always knew how to joke. Fedya Smolov was also always able to cheer up.

— The main mentor.

— There were several of them. But if we take goalkeeping coaches, Nikolai Pavlovich Gontar played a big role in my life as a coach. I got into the main staff under Nikolai Pavlovich, who worked in the staff of Andrei Nikolaevich Kobelev. He has devoted his whole life to working at the club, and is now helping at the Academy. I recently wished him a happy birthday. This is one of those people who are always around throughout life.

— The most stylish Dynamo player.

— We had stories when someone came in very strange clothes, then we collected these things - someone's shoes, someone's T–shirt, someone's sweater - and made up such a "fashionable look", hanging it on the ceiling or on the wall. Some guys were offended, but it was fun. It's probably difficult to single out one person, but Fedya Smolov is one of those who likes to dress memorably.

— A match with your own participation, which you can review many times.

— Honestly, there is no such a game. Just a few days ago I wanted to distract my daughter and showed her photos on the tablet: some moments from life, from football, my saves. When you start digging into history, you remember a lot of moments that are forgotten over time, and they were really cool. Moreover, in recent years, the older I got, the cooler it was.

The problem is that you are always living in the future, the upcoming game, preparing for it. The game has passed, and you are preparing for the next one. I caught myself thinking that there was always some kind of race going on: you need to prepare well, play a match, then the next one, then a vacation that flies by quickly, and now you have to prepare for the preseason, and so on.

— That is, there was simply no time to look back?

— You never look back and, apparently, that's why you don't watch these photos, videos, matches – you live in the future all the time. Only now have I started to stop and generally look at what is happening around me. And there are a lot of cool things in the world, and I understand this only now. Because before, the goal was always the same – to win, to become a champion, to go from match to match, in every next game there should be a victory. And it's as if everything else is flying by, so to some extent it's great to look from the outside and start a new life. That life was beautiful, but when you can live several different lives, it's even more beautiful.

— And finally, for you Dynamo is...

— For 30 years I have been playing here, training, enjoying, getting upset, learning life lessons and moving on. I have spent my entire adult life in one club, and it has given me everything: well-being, character, strength, family. So Dynamo is a bigger part of my life.