Pavel Yakovlev: “My parents and friends got behind me”
© rus.spartak.com
After the match with Khimki an
A Lyubertsy-born striker performed well for the reserves and finally made his debut with the first team. At the Viareggio Cup in Italy this winter Italian media awarded Pavel the best player for Spartak reserves and popular La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote an article about the player. Playing against Lokomotiv reserves a Spartak Academy talent scored twice and his appearance in the main squad was a matter of time with Welliton missing the match due to yellow card excess. The forward replaced Dzyuba at the 76th minute against Khimki and supported attacks well.
— I think every reserve player dreams of playing for the first team, — he said after the game. — When I was a child I liked Spartak and dreamt to play in the
— When did you know you’d play for the first team?
— When the break came in the Premiere League matches due to the World Cup qualifiers. 5 players from the reserves were invited to train with the first team. I was one of them. I did my best there, at every exercise.
— How did you sleep before the match?
— I slept well. I think every player should be ready to get into the field at any time. And be tuned up at the maximum. This match was very important for us as it was the last match before the coming summer break. We needed to finish the first half in good mood. And we made it.
— How did you feel before the match?
— I was a bit nervous just before the replacement. When I came in I forgot about what I felt before and concentrated on the game. I had to do my job and do what my coach said.
— Did you have a chance to score?
— Yes. Right after I got into the field I could finish the cross from the right. I was wrong there – I could dash to the near post and not run to the far one. There was on more moment when I could assist. If I’d done everything quicker I could’ve made it all. Anyways what matters is we won.
— Who supported you at the stadium?
— My parents and my friends were there.