Alan Aussie, a pupil of Dynamo Kyiv school, who moved to Romanian Cluj earlier this year, made his debut for his new team last Saturday. In the away match of the Romanian championship with Rapid, he came on as a substitute, contributing to the 4:1 victory over the principal rival.
- What are your emotions after the game in Bucharest and your debut at Cluj?
- The best. I have waited long enough to make my debut in my new team. I've been at Cluj since January and everyone treated me with the utmost kindness. Before the transfer, I knew that Cluj is a big club in Romania, and it is also well regarded in Europe.
Cluj is a frequent participant of the Champions League and Europa League group stages. In Romania, I am still on loan. The lease agreement is until the end of 2024. Before that I played in the team "Ponferradina", it is Segunda-2 in the Spanish league. In our terms, it was the first division. For example, in the second division of Spain now play Deportivo and Malaga, but a few years ago they played in the Champions League. In life, everything flows, everything changes. In "Ponferradina" I did not really trust the head coach, and the invitation from "Cluj" came in time.
- Now in the Romanian championship it is the turn of the most important games. There is a championship group, including the top six teams...
- Here I would like to point out that Cluj is going through a difficult period, if we talk about the team's results. We haven't won in the domestic championship in three games, and we also lost in the Romanian Cup, to a team from the first division. Of course, the numerous injuries are not an excuse, but we lost in the Cup on business. That's how angry, in a sporting way, we came to the match with Rapid. We all wanted to rehabilitate ourselves in front of our fans.
Our centre forward Birligea scored twice by the 8th minute, and we felt comfortable on the pitch. Soon our forward made a hat-trick and we achieved a big victory with the score 4:1.
- You came on the pitch in the second half...
- Yes, I was waiting for this moment, and my partners supported me in every possible way. Everyone told me - train, and when you need it, you will get a chance.
- What are your general impressions of the Romanian championship? What is the atmosphere of the matches?
- For example, the home stadium of "Rapid", which seats about 18 000 fans, was almost filled to capacity. I was told that Rapid have the most loyal fans in Romania. That's probably true, although we'll see what happens next. In general, the performance in the stands and the support during the match was as good as the Champions League games.
- Now "Cluj" is on the second place in the Romanian championship and you are 10 points behind the leader "Steaua". Is there a chance to catch up with them and become Romanian champions?
- In the final part of the season we have two more clashes between Cluj and Steaua. Therefore, everything is in our hands - we need to beat the capital club twice. We need to go out for every match, as we did in the clash with Rapid on Saturday.
- Alan, let's go back to the period of your development as a player. Did you spend an important period of your career at Shakhtar?
- Yes. From the age of 8, I trained at the Pitmen's Academy. Almost all the national teams of Ukraine - I trained with them in Donetsk. I am friends with Yefim Konoplya, I crossed paths with Maksym Taloverov. He is a year older than me, but it did not prevent us from communicating.
- Then you had a period in Dynamo Kyiv....
- Yes, in the capital of Ukraine I became friends with Mykola Shaparenko. If now I need to know something about Ukrainian football, I will make a call to Mykola. He also comes from Donetsk region. We have a lot in common. Kolya is a simple guy and if you need to record a video congratulation for some boy, he will always do everything.
- How did it happen that you have already played in five championships, and you are only 22 years old?
- I went to Europe early, first to the Czech Republic, to the club Slovan. I'll be honest, not everything is easy, but it's understandable. You have to win a place under the sun. You never have to give up.
- The first team, where you started to play in the main squad, was the Belarusian "Torpedo"?
- Yes. I was 19 years old and they started to release me in the main squad. It was a special season for Torpedo-BelAZ - we won bronze medals, for the first time in history for the oldest club. Our coaching staff trusted me. I started playing in the second round and we needed to win all 7 matches to finish in third place. And our competitors needed to lose points in a couple of games. Everything worked out in the best way for us.
I remember that Milevski and Noyok played in Dynamo (Brest) at that time. In the qualification of the Conference League we immediately fell to Danish Copenhagen. I remember, we stopped by the Parken stadium and saw the wall of achievements of Copenhagen. They had previously beaten Bayern, Manchester United, and now Torpedo would face them. Yes, we lost to the Danes, but it was a good experience for all of us.
- What was the period in Armenian "Pyunik"?
- Difficult for me. Immediately I played a few games, but then I got a hand injury, having fallen on the lawn unluckily. The treatment was difficult and long. And the recovery was even longer. After that I received an offer from Spain. Everyone knows how much they love football in this country. This is also an experience for me.
- Alan, if in the near future you receive an offer from a club of the Ukrainian Premier League, will you accept?
- I have been living in Europe for several years, and I want to prove myself in a European club. Earlier, I already had invitations from some UPL clubs, but I refused. Of course, the war unleashed by Russia affects our football. Everyone knows what a difficult situation our country is in. Therefore, I will try to prove myself in Europe, where many Ukrainian players are playing now. And the football business in the Old World is such that if you progress, you will be sold with profit for your club. This is a normal practice.