The young goalkeeper of the blue and whites Kurban Rasulov in October made his debut first in the youth national team of Russia, and then in the Premier League. In a big interview, he shared his emotions from the current season, told about his favorite athletes, hobbies and goals.
— You recently made your debut for the Russian youth national team. With what emotions did you return to the location of the club?
— Emotions, of course, are positive. I am very glad that I was entrusted with the match, because two of my competitors are a year older, and I thought they would be given more playing time. I am pleased that they gave me my debut for the youth national team. I want to continue in the same spirit and continue to receive calls.
— The World Youth Championship has just ended, did you manage to follow it?
— I managed to watch the semi-final between France and Morocco a little bit, but I didn't really like it. The game is kind of faded. Even though the Moroccans changed the goalkeeper during the match due to injury, and then the third goalkeeper came out for a penalty shootout. Honestly, I've never seen this before.
— Wasn't it a shame to watch this from the sidelines and not even be able to make it to such a tournament?
— It's a shame, one hundred percent. I would like to play there for experience, for interest. You still understand that the current youth team players are the future of football. It would be interesting to test yourself at this level. It is a pity that there is no opportunity to play even in the qualification, not to mention getting to the big tournament.
— How often do you watch football at all?
— Often. Now I have to watch the Russian Premier League more (smiles). As a child, when I had more time, I followed all the championships, kept statistics myself, recorded everything, liked everything very much.
— You are an ardent fan of Real Madrid. How did it happen?
— Many of my friends supported Real Madrid, I liked this team. Cristiano Ronaldo must have been in trouble. It was mostly because of him that I began to support Real Madrid.
— All the young players call Ronaldo as their idol. Nobody chooses Messi. It turns out that for young people this image of a super athlete working at 120% 365 days a year is higher than a simple football genius?
— Because Ronaldo is an example, and you understand that he can become the same. And you are unlikely to become like Messi, because this is either given or not. We need to strive to become like Cristiano, and ideally reach the same level. But I think everyone understands that this requires titanic work and constant work on themselves.
— Are you ready to work the same way as Ronaldo?
— I'm ready, but whether it will work out or not is a difficult question. His body is ready for such loads, plus recovery, super mode, in this he is super professional.
— You recently told in an interview about how you started your football career, and it is unique in its own way, because you are the first person from the Dynamo Academy branch who has grown to the main team. Do you consider yourself a lucky person?
— Of course, one hundred percent. I always say that there should be a fart in life, this is an important component for every person. I think there have been a lot of situations in my life where I was just lucky. However, without work and effort, this would not have happened. You have to earn a chance, and at that moment you have to be lucky.
— How difficult is it to get into big football from Dagestan now?
— As practice shows, it is very difficult. A lot of guys come, but over time, unfortunately, they are sent back, or they go to other teams. Plus, competition has increased in the branches. When I moved, there were not so many of them, but now their number has increased, as well as the number of players who have started to be looked at more closely in the Dynamo structure.
— Only martial arts are loved more than football in your homeland. Do you follow them, considering that you have brothers who are boxers?
— I follow martial arts. I like the UFC more, I'm just a fan. I can wake up at 6 in the morning to watch some good fight. Plus, our Dagestani men perform well there, there are many champions.
— Do you have any favorite fighters?
— Oddly enough, it used to be Conor McGregor. He gave birth to a love for this sport, made a show out of it. I really liked to look at his performances, especially at the battles of views. Thanks to him, I started following this sport and fell in love with it.
— Did you often get it from your brothers as a child?
— I didn't get it at all. They were doing their own sports, but I chose my own direction and did my own thing. They were not up to me.
— Did you have to fight yourself?
— There must have been some moments at school, on the streets. Everyone had it, but never on the football field. Although sometimes I can provoke someone myself so that the opponent reacts somehow and gets a yellow or red card.
— You are one of the youngest in the team. Who helped you the most at first to get used to it? Who gives the most advice?
— Of course, these are mostly goalie line players, because I work and spend the most time with them. At the initial stage, when I first got to Dynamo, it was Anton Shunin, a legend of the club. He talked to me a lot, a very nice person. Now it's Andrei Lunev, who shares his experience. Senior partners communicate more and are always encouraging.
— You said that Lunev encouraged you with the phrase "Come on, take everyone with a snout" — decipher it.
— He often says that. It means: play as it goes, and do what you can. You don't need to give up any of your playing qualities, but you just need to continue doing what you can, like in training.
— Now you can safely stuff more experienced defenders?
— In training, yes, but this is not some kind of a pushover, but more of a challenge. During games, I don't think you can hear me much because of the noise in the stadium, but during pauses I try to approach and say something to the defenders.
— You have played three matches in the Cup so far, for which of them will you give yourself the highest score?
— Probably the first and third. Let's take the match with Sochi out of the brackets, there were no special moments there. In the match with "Wings" was my debut, unusual emotions, all for the first time. At that time, this was the strongest team I played against, and it was good that I played for zero. And the match with Krasnodar was also memorable: a wonderful arena, a match against the reigning champion, with all the leaders in the lineup. I am glad that I managed to show myself and not lose in regular time. It's just a pity that they didn't score.
— You reacted superemotionally to your rescue after being hit by John Cordoba. Because I didn't let the "evil genius" of our team score?
— In particular, plus there was a special mood. I wanted him to play, and I really wanted not to miss it from him, because for me John Cordoba is the strongest player in the RPL in recent years. Therefore, there was a personal motivation against him. Besides, the opponent pressed us a little, and I made such a save, I wanted to emotionally charge the team with it.
— You had three matches to zero in the Cup – in the Russian history of Dynamo, only Igor Leshchuk started in the base like that. Have you discussed this moment with him?
— We didn't talk about this topic. I wanted to break this record and play the fourth match at zero. Recently I saw that Lantratov also has three zero games in the Cup, and I thought I was the only one like that (smiles). Unfortunately, no. I want to play zero as often as possible and beat various records.
— Can you imagine that you will repeat another achievement of Igor and score from the game?
— I always want to. You think about it at the end of matches when you lose and you need to score. Thoughts are spinning in my head: "I wish they'd earned a corner now, I'll run and hit the ball." It is clear that this happens infrequently, and Igor's case is a rarity. Fortunately, I managed to see it live from the bench. Also, the goal turned out to be so unusual. That's why I would like to score, why not?
— What did you think about at that moment?
— At first, no one understood at all what happened and who scored. At that moment, assistant coach Mario Licka began shouting "Bream scored! Bream scored!". And we all jumped up from the bench. Unfortunately, we didn't win that match, but we got away from defeat.
— Ironically, you also made your debut in the RPL in the game with Akhmat. Did you feel the difference with the cup matches?
— I didn't miss in the Cup, but I missed two here, so there are probably differences. The emotions from the first match in the championship are twofold: I'm glad I made my debut, but I wanted to win, unfortunately, it didn't work out. We make the same stupid mistakes from game to game, we need to do something about it.
— A little bit was not enough for you to repeat the achievement of Vladimir Pilgui, who four times left his goal intact at the start of his Dynamo career. Are you familiar with this legend of our club?
— I haven't met him personally yet, but I hope to fix it over time. I watched a movie about Yashin, I remember that Pilgui was just replacing Lev Ivanovich there. I know that when Dynamo won the trophy for the last time, Andrei Smetanin was standing at the gate. There was Alexei Khomich before Lev Yashin. Plus Anton Shunin — these are my five legends. Well, I can't help but mention Roman Berezovsky. He recently came to us for training, and I managed to talk to him.
— What did you talk about, if it's not a secret?
— He said that he was following me: "Well done, keep up the same spirit." That is, I received a little praise from a status person. It was nice.
— On Wednesday there will be a cup match on Lev Ivanovich's birthday. Does it add responsibility?
— I think it will be a significant day for everyone. I would really like to play on such a day, to show that we have a good goalkeeping school, Lev Ivanovich's legacy lives on, and goalkeepers at Dynamo will always be at a high level.
— In the Cup it has already come to a penalty shootout twice. And on Wednesday it may so happen that they will decide the fate of the ticket to the RPL playoffs. How are you preparing for this scenario?
— Everyone understands how it works. We look at how the Krylia players are hitting, we understand who is most likely to beat them, we make notes for ourselves what their favorite angle is. Our analytical group shows us everything, and with the goalkeeping coach we sort it all out. If you look at these penalty shootouts, I guessed the direction of half or even more shots. It works one hundred percent, you just need more luck.
— That is, is it more preparation for the opponent than reaction or intuition?
— Preparation for the opponent. I think if I hadn't been provided with the data, this would hardly have happened. They say that a penalty is a lottery, I guessed it, I beat it off, but with Krasnodar I guessed three out of four, and I didn't beat any of them. This is the skill of the players and some kind of my flaw.
— Dmitry Guberniev made you one of the three best young players in Russia. Do you follow the statements in the media or, like Valery Karpin, do you not read anything?
— I try not to follow. My brother or mother can tell me about something. Guberniev's statement was thrown off to me. It's funny, of course, to be on the list with Kislyak and Batrakov, the young stars of our championship. There was such a phrase: "Well, let Rasulov be," that is, I was just brought in as the third, as a joke more. I took it that way because there are guys who play at a higher level and have more experience in the Premier League.
— In continuation of the commentators' topic: does it annoy you when they call you Rasul Kurbanov?
— No, it's not particularly annoying. Even when I first moved to Moscow and ended up at Dynamo, many people confused me, but I got used to it. When they call me Rasul, I take it absolutely calmly.
— You have a cool Telegram channel. It starts with a photo of doshirak and soda, and in general there was a lot of tasty and not the most useful food in it, which disappeared from the channel immediately after the arrival of Valery Karpin. A coincidence?
— Well, how's the coincidence… Maybe I deleted something, cleaned up the channel just in case (laughs). But the fact that there are no new posts about food is one hundred percent the merit of Valery Georgievich, because many people in the team, not just me, have revised their views on their diet. I think many people are now taking more care of themselves and their diet.
— You starred in a sponsored video where you cooked with the chef of Dixie. What is the most difficult thing you can cook?
— I don't know how to cook at all, we have women doing this in the Caucasus.
— What about the barbecue?
— I haven't grown up to shish kebab yet, my older brothers do it. I hope someday I will learn, it's interesting.
— I also came across your, probably, the first interview in your life, where you almost smashed Igor Akinfeev. Do you remember that moment?
— Yes, I gave this interview as soon as I got into the Anzhi Academy in Makhachkala. I was asked a question about goalkeepers, and at that time the 2014 World Cup had just ended, where Igor made a mistake. That's why he said on emotion, he was small. Although it's clear that he's a CSKA legend, and it's great that he's still playing. Well done!
— Can you imagine that you will also play for Dynamo for more than 20 years?
— I can, why not? Anton Shunin played until he was 36, you can break his record and stay in the club longer.
— Akinfeev's autobiography will be released soon. Will you read? In general, how do you feel about reading?
— I used to read more. In my room there are books by Cristiano, Frank Lampard, Sergei Ovchinnikov. I know that there is a book by Vitaly Vitalievich Kafanov, I would like to buy it and read it. Now he is the main goalie in Russia, and there you can definitely learn something for yourself.
— What do you do in your free time? What are you watching, what are you playing?
— I have a console, but I rarely play. Maskimum, I can get into the NHL or FIFA. I play in the NHL just to relieve myself from football. A very dynamic sport. I can watch YouTube, scroll through the tape, tiktoks and rils. That is, like everyone else, nothing unusual.
— Since we're talking about hockey, how often do you go to cheer for Dynamo hockey?
— I just bought myself a season ticket for the second tier, right above the fan, because Dynamo is attacking two out of three periods in these gates. I always go when I have time. I watch when the team has home games, I make notes for myself that I'm going to hockey on such and such a day.
— What sports do you still follow?
— Behind the big tennis, where Carlos Alcaraz is blowing everyone up now. On New Year's Eve, when I'm on vacation, I always watch the World Darts Championship. Now there's a young plump Briton smashing everyone. I like it.
— Have you tried to play darts yourself?
— Once we were at a training camp in Turkey and tried it with Vanya Lepskiy. He did it better than I did. It's more interesting for me to watch him. There are even favorites, for example, the Dutchman Michael Van Gerwen.
— Going back to that interview in childhood. You told him that the coolest goalkeeper in the world is Mexican Guillermo Ochoa. Not the most obvious choice, why did you name it?
— At that time I really liked his game. He played for not the strongest French team "Ajaccio", but in the Mexican national team at every big tournament he showed himself very well. I watched him, and it was always a storm of emotions. He was dragging not the strongest football country. I even followed his games in the French championship, watched everything, I really liked it. I even have a white T-shirt with his picture on it at home.
— Do you believe that he will go to his sixth World Championship, also at home? No one has managed to do this yet.
— I hope so. I would like to ask for his T-shirt through Luis Chavez, if there is such an opportunity.
— You wrote that your goal for 2025 is to make your debut at the base. Has it been completed, has it already set a goal for 2026?
— To make his debut in the main national team.
