Vladimir Dyadyun: "My first home is Omsk, my second is Kazan."

      Interview with former Rubin striker about the star period of the Kazan club

      Vladimir Dyadyun. Photo: Realnoe Vremya

      Russian footballer, forward Vladimir Dyadyun played for Rubin in two stints. Initially, he was with the team under contract from 2007 to 2013. During this time, he was loaned out, returned to the club, and played a second period from 2014 to 2017. He then played for Rostov again, from where he moved to Baltika. In an interview with Realnoe Vremya, Dyadyun talked about how the Kazan team changed over ten years, where he came as a junior, a holder of the Russian Cup, and a quarter-finalist of the UEFA Cup.

      "Some of the legionnaires did not fight for the club"

      — Vladimir, how did you end up in Kazan?

      — I am from Siberia, born in Omsk. With our team, which was called "Molniya," I made it to the final tournament of the youth championship of Russia. There, among representatives of big clubs like CSKA and Spartak, we managed to perform decently. After the tournament, Yuri Anvarovich Utkulbaev, who was acquainted with our coach Vladimir Anatolyevich Shcherbak, invited me and four other Molniya players for a trial at Rubin. In the fall of 2004, I first came to Kazan for a trial. After that, in January 2005, I was invited to the training camp, the only one of the five Omsk players.

      — Did you go to the training camp with the youth team?

      — At that time, there was a reserve team, which included representatives of the main squad, about 9-10 people, and youth players who were trying to secure a place in the first team. I arrived there at 16, while some of the guys were already 25 years old. They told me: we will sign you, let's see, if it works out — you will play for the reserve team, if not — for the Rubin school team. It worked out, I started playing for the reserve.

      — Your debut for the main squad of Rubin came in 2007...

      — Yes, it was an unsuccessful year for Rubin, but it became a turning point for the team and for the young guys who saved the situation at the end of the season, including me. In 2007, I trained with the main team. There were many expensive foreigners who were relied upon. To be honest, some of them did not fight for the club. They didn’t care, behaved like hired workers who received good money and just spent time in Kazan. And there were no results, despite all the efforts of Kurban Bekievich and the coaching staff. Against this background, we, the young guys who showed ourselves well in the reserves, were pulled up to the main team — we trained together with them. Balaykin, Golyatkin, Kireev, Yarkin, me, and other guys. Everything was important for us. We grew up in Rubin, saw how the base was built, and were ready to fight for the club. Bekievich probably understood this and relied on us, the reserves, whom not everyone even knew by name. Dyadyun in attack. Realnoe Vremya / realnoevremya.ru

      "For me, 2007 was a fateful year"

      — Do you remember your first match in the main squad?

      — Yes, I came on as a substitute five minutes before the end of the game against Moscow. But what I remember most about 2007 is that we managed to keep the team in the Premier League. There is a specific story. At the end of the championship, we played against Kuban, who was in second to last place and was only three points behind Rubin. It was essentially a match for survival in the Premier League because after that we had to play against Dynamo and CSKA, where it was very difficult to earn points. Shortly before the match with Kuban, the club president Alexander Petrovich Gusev came to the base. There was a meeting of the whole team, where we were clearly told that we could not lose, as Rubin could end up in the relegation zone. We, the young guys who played for the reserves, were also at the meeting, but naturally thought that the "stars" would solve the problem, as they were invited for that.

      The day before, we played a match for the reserves, and after the first half, I was substituted: "Get ready, tomorrow you will be in the main squad." The next day I woke up at the base, packed my bag, and told the guys (we lived in a room of 5-6 people): "I will go help Rubin stay in the Premier League." At that time, I didn’t even think that I would be released in such an important match. We were losing the first half — 0:1. During the break, they said: "Dyadyun, warm up." My eyes were wide open, I started warming up actively. I came on in the second half. First, I intercepted the ball, made an intermediate pass, and we equalized. Then, with the score 1:2, I scored a goal, and we played 2:2. I played in the remaining matches against Dynamo and CSKA in the main squad. Therefore, for me, 2007 became such a fateful year. I was a no-name, a kid who just lived for football, waiting for my chance, and when it came, I helped the team stay in the Premier League. The next year was championship-winning for Rubin.

      — You touched on the topic of team composition. Can we say that the approach to it changed in 2008 and that this was an important moment in the transformation of Rubin?

      — I think so. In 2007, many players, mostly foreigners, did not perform their duties well, had a mediocre attitude towards the training process. In 2008, everything changed in this regard; I felt it from within the team. Good players were selected who did not put their interests above the team’s interests. It seems to me that after 2007, such players did not survive in Rubin; if they appeared, they were immediately put in their place. Although in 2008, famous players came, they were adapted to collective intelligence. I remember the words of Lobanovsky, who said: "A team of stars is not needed, but a star team is." So that everyone works as a whole. In Rubin of those years, it was like that; I felt it. And when I played for other teams, I felt the difference.

      — You found yourself in another team in 2008 when you went on loan to Rostov. Under what circumstances did this happen?

      — In 2007, Kurban Bekievich saw that I could be relied upon. I went through all the winter training camps of 2008 with the main team, participated in friendly matches, and scored a lot. Top players began to arrive: Karadeniz, Ansaldi, Semak... At the very end of the training camps, during a practice match, I got injured, tearing ligaments in my ankle. It was very disappointing. I was playing in the main squad, already thinking about the first match of the season against Lokomotiv — and then this happened... I got injured and missed the start of the season. By that time, an experienced Savo Milosevic was invited, and I, being young, went on loan to Rostov, which I helped return to the Premier League.

      It so happened that on Sergey Semak's birthday, I was sitting in tears on the second floor of the hotel with ice on my leg, unable to go down to the celebration. And Sergey came with a cake. I said: I will tell my kids that Semak brought me a cake, and he replied: "No, I will tell that I brought a cake to Dyadyun on my birthday." How human he was! And what a team gathered in 2008! I went through training camps with them and saw the team being formed and what kind of people were there, personalities who put the interests of the team above their own. This example with Semak is indicative. He was already a legend then, but despite his status, he brought a cake to a young injured player.

      At the presentation. Dyadyun is fifth from the right. Realnoe Vremya / realnoevremya.ru

      "Dyadyun, why aren't you running, have you become a star?"

      And in Kazan, a star team gathered. It was already visible at the beginning of 2008. I felt it again in 2011 when I returned to play for Rubin. Ryzhikov, Sharonov, Navas, Yermolenko, Natho... The squad had partially changed, but the idea remained the same; no one put their personal interests above the interests of the team. And no one could lower their demands on themselves. Against this background, others progressed as well. An example is Cristian Noboa: he had been playing for Rubin since 2007. He arrived young and matured in Kazan. Noboa was always good with the ball, and in Rubin, he reached an even higher level. Bekievich taught him how to roll, to work hard. He drew out additional reserves from him, made him believe in himself. Cristian rose to a new level