Anastasia Linnikova: "I can open a gas boiler and fix any malfunction"

Just six months ago, Anastasia Linnikova was a player in Volgograd Rotor, but in January 2024 her life changed dramatically - she received an invitation from the Dynamo Sports Club. Naturally, Nastya did not refuse the chance to prove herself in the Academy of one of the best clubs in the country, as well as the opportunity to move to Moscow, and after two pre-season training camps she became a full-fledged player of the Dynamo youth team.

However, the path to the top, as often happens, was thorny. Studying, training, work - everything had to be combined for the sake of a dream, and now this dream is closer than it might seem.

In a long interview, the 55th number of the blue and white talks about his upward movement, recalls his first steps in football, training in his hometown, playing for Volgograd Zenit and Rotor, and also shares his plans for the future.

— The season is in full swing, the second stage of the Youth League has begun. What are your thoughts after the first round of the championship?

— For me, this is, in principle, the first such experience. Previously, I watched the Super League and Youth League only through the phone screen with my mother, and for me all these girls are, as they say, “from TV.” This is the acquisition of new knowledge, skills and abilities.

If we talk about the opponents, it is clear that Zenit was the clear favorite in our group. “Strogino” also does not seem like some kind of weak team, they performed with character - this is entirely their merit. And Sochi... Everyone is trying, they want to play, just like us. At the same time, it is realistic to fight with all rivals. We are the same as them - the same legs, arms, head. If everyone is united by one idea and the desire to win, this can be done.

— Are you comfortable in the team?

— When I first arrived, it didn’t feel like I immediately joined the team and was accepted as one of their own. But this happens in any team. Now everything is fine, I smile at the girls, the girls smile at me and everything is basically fine.

— How does the coaching staff prepare you both physically and emotionally?

— Our training is intense and active. I've never had anything like this before. When I arrived at Dynamo and came to the first training session, to be honest, I was stunned: we had just started doing the first exercise, the second exercise had already been prepared. These details immediately catch the eye - there are no trifles here, everything is thought out and calculated. Both Mikhail Yuryevich (Kobyakov – Note from the press service of the Dynamo Sports Club) and Lyubov Sergeevna (Komarova – Note from the Dynamo Press Service) notice all the nuances, and if something doesn’t work out in the game, then it always goes hint and practice at the next training session. This is an incredible experience for me. Here you just want to progress. Dynamo is doing everything to ensure that we play and everything works out for us.

— How would you rate the pre-season training? First Novogorsk, then Türkiye.

— This was all new to me too. You could say it was the second time in my life that I flew on an airplane - the first time was when I got from Volgograd to Moscow. When I arrived at Dynamo, I didn’t even have a foreign passport, so all the pre-season preparation and the conditions created aroused admiration.

The training camp itself was not easy for me, it was really difficult. But I really liked everything. You want to continue working, especially when they believe in you. And the fields in Turkey were good.

— If we take pre-season matches, which one do you remember the most?

— Of course, this is the game with Spartak, especially our victory. I came out in that match and even took part in the second goal - in the second half I passed the ball to Kristina Yakovenko, she caught the ball and earned a penalty. Small, but still my merit. So the impressions were the most positive.

— How did you end up at Dynamo?

— I studied, worked and trained in Volgograd. At one fine moment, a call came from Dynamo - the breeder-analyst of the Dynamo Sports Club Ekaterina Shmeleva called my mother and invited me to come for a viewing. This was in November 2023. To be honest, I have no idea how they found out about me. Of course, I immediately agreed. At the same time, Ekaterina found out everything in great detail - whether I wanted to continue playing football professionally, what my plans were for the future.

— What happened then?

— Then the purely technical side of the matter moved on - communication with the team leader, buying tickets. And then, as luck would have it, I got sick. To be honest, I started to worry - if I don’t come now, they won’t call me back. As a result, they took me a ticket for January, I flew to Moscow, and was met by my brother, who has lived and worked here for a long time.

Then I arrived at our base at the River Station, where team chief Alexander Shatunov took me to the locker room and brought me up to date. At first I was shy, but then I went to training and somehow I immediately liked everything, everything began to work out. There was some kind of shock.

— What did the coach say when he saw you in action?

— After the first training, Mikhail Yuryevich Kobyakov came up to me and said that he liked my technical training and was ready to take me. The main thing is to solve the issue with your studies, we want to see you at Dynamo.

— In the end, were you able to resolve the issue with your studies?

— I transferred to the correspondence department of the private educational institution “Gazprom College Volgograd named after. I.A. Matlashova”, where she entered after the ninth grade. I didn’t know where to go - I wanted to go somewhere into sports, but I didn’t really understand. My mother helped here - she works as a foreman in the gas industry, and she was offered that I should go to study for targeted training under a contract. You study for four years and work for another three years, then training is free. I didn’t have any special ideas about studying in college, but now I can open a gas boiler, fix any malfunction and tell what is leaking from where, where are the sensors.

— And now you go to Volgograd once every six months to take the exam?

— Yes, once every six months I fly home and take exams. The session lasts twenty days.

— How do you see your future? Is it related to the gas industry or football?

— Of course, I would like to stay in football. I have a very great desire to gain experience, develop skills and then take off!

— How did you come to football? Surely there were other sports hobbies in childhood.

— In general, from the first grade I did rhythmic gymnastics. I even have some awards. My classmates and I loved going to the Fakel youth leisure club, where we played chess, checkers, table tennis, weaved beads, and took part in competitions. One day we also came to Fakel, and I was invited to play football, and I was not the only girl. We played with a mixed squad against a team from another district of Volgograd. The field is old with unmown grass. They gave us T-shirts, we went out and won.

After this match, futsal coach Vladimir Ivanovich Pronchenko came up to me, gave me a business card and said: “Come study at the Zenit-Volgograd School of Sports, everything is free.” I ran home, I was delighted, now I wanted to play football, and gymnastics can be relegated to the background. My mother supported me, but at the same time advised me not to quit gymnastics just yet.

— But the ball game itself came into your life much earlier, right?

— Of course, from early childhood I kicked a ball in the yard with the boys. During physical education at school, I didn’t play rounders with the girls, but went out with the guys to play football. Then I watched matches on TV. Somehow the boys always called me, we shot a video, and then uploaded it to YouTube and recorded all sorts of challenges. That's how I got interested in football.

— How was your lesson at SSOR?

— I arrived for the first training session at the Zenit stadium, and there was a natural field. I go out to see this beauty in gym shorts, a T-shirt and sneakers. However, there were only girls. We were given balls, the coach arranged the chips, set up a goal at a short distance, and we began to play football. I liked everything so much that I definitely understood that I had to quit gymnastics.

I announced to my mother that I was finally staying in football and quitting gymnastics, especially since they started swearing at me and demanding that I lose weight. So I finally stayed in football. Vladimir Ivanovich Pronchenko supported me, said that I was active and combative, that I needed to go to training.

— How long have you studied at SSOR?

— Probably about eight years. At the same time, she combined her studies at school. In the morning I went to classes, in the afternoon I went to training.

— Was it difficult to combine study and training?

— I wouldn’t say very much. It became more difficult when college came along, and on top of that came work.

— Did you still manage to work?

— She worked as a children’s coach at FC Volgograd, which was led by Vladislav Andreevich Karpovich. It was necessary to travel not every day, but three times a week, but it was still quite difficult. I came home at nine or ten o'clock in the evening. At the same time, in college I studied “excellently” and even received a personal scholarship.

— What competitions did you participate in?

— Mainly city and regional. I remember there was a paid tournament in Kamyshin, but I didn’t go there. I participated only in local competitions, as they say, in my area, for example, in honor of the holidays of February 23 or March 8.

— Next on your resume is the Rotor secondary school.

— Yes, it was in January 2023. In general, I came to big-time football in 2021, when there was an MRO in Volgograd and they decided to create a team for the Volgograd region so that we could participate in competitions. We took ninth place out of ten. The story is interesting: there were two teams - SSHOR Zenit and Kamyshin, and they had to choose who would play in the U-19 Championship. A match was arranged between the teams, we lost, and in theory it was Kamyshin who should have played for the region.

However, the coaching staff decided that we could be united and field a joint team for the tournament. At the same time, coach Samvel Rafikovich Avakov came, who was more passionate about big football, for Rotor. We participated in the Russian U-19 Championship, the First League, where we took first place in our zone and fourth in the entire league.

— How do you like the game in the First League?

— I was an iron player in the starting lineup, but I didn’t receive any awards. She played mainly as a defensive midfielder or an inside linebacker, although sometimes she had to go into defense when she replaced an injured girl.

— Which position is closer to you?

— Defensive and inside player, I really like playing in the center of the field. I gravitate more toward my goal, I have good tackling, although I want to develop my game intelligence and make passes. And, of course, score. At least I always go to games charged.

— As a result, you played at Rotor for less than a year.

— It turns out this way - from January to December 2023. However, I am not the only player who went through the Rotor school. Two of our girls play in Rubin, in Krasnodar, and I play in Dynamo.

— How did Dynamo surprise you?

— In addition to professionalism and general attitude, this is the provision of equipment. I was very surprised when they dressed me completely - a uniform, a training cap, jackets, and windbreakers, that is, they gave me absolutely everything. This is very cool! This is all the first time for me.

— How often do you visit Volgograd?

— I try to spend all my time with my family and after the end of the season, of course, I will go to Volgograd. By the way, everyone there greets me very warmly, everyone supports me, even though I left the team. The girls were not offended, but, on the contrary, kept their fingers crossed.

— What goals do you set for yourself and for the team?

— I want to fight for prizes.” On a personal level – to gain experience, progress and be needed in football. Of course, every football player dreams of joining the Russian national team, and I am no exception in this regard. This is probably my dream.

— Do you watch football on TV?

— Certainly. Moreover, not only men’s, but also women’s – Super League, Youth League, UFL. In men's football, I support Real Madrid.

— Tell us about the atmosphere in the team. What is the situation in your team?

— As I already said, in general, I was received well. At the same time, the girls take training very seriously and don’t let each other down on the field. Our relations are good, everyone gets along with each other.

— Who is your best friend on the team?

— Tasya Razvorotneva. We somehow immediately became friends with her, and even at the training camp in Novogorsk we began to live together.

— You are still actively running a telegram channel. What are you putting there?

— I’m just talking about my life, about football. I like to post something funny.

— What do you do in your free time?

— I like to watch Russian melodramas, films and TV series about love. TV - very rarely, mostly everything is on the phone. I’m thinking about finding a job to make it easier for my brother and aunt, with whom I live in rented housing.

— Maybe it’s worth going to work in the gas industry?

— By the way, why not? I’m no stranger to a screwdriver, I can walk around apartments and check the gas, install gas boilers, make a basement inlet for a gas pipeline - it’s just a piece of cake. And then, perhaps, I’ll start gasifying some villages (laughs).