“I’m glad the 2022 World Cup came at a time when I was in a cast and on crutches.” Interview with basketball striker CSKA Antonov

“The first quarter of the recovery is over, now the second is underway”

“Semion, how’s your recovery going?”

– Good. Everything is on schedule, as it should be. That is, step by step. We strictly follow the instructions of the surgeon who operated. We are not ahead of schedule and waiting for the next step.

If you use basketball terminology, then basically the first quarter of the recovery is over, now the second quarter is underway. And so, I think, we’re going to break it down into four stages. That is to say, the first stage was the operation, stitches, plaster for two weeks, boots for four. Then there were the first steps. But now everything is already going a little more, a little more actively. Step by step, day by day, week by week…

Here, in this regard, it is difficult to surprise with something: there are laws of nature, according to which you must meet these deadlines.

Do you plan to play this season?

“I don’t want to guess anything. Now I don’t even think about it anymore. Because there are times when one day the leg behaves well, and the next day it can swell a little. Therefore, they will not think that I will come back to play this season.

With the coaching and medical staff and with the club management, we understand that it is really not worth forcing. As the Finnish doctor who operated on me said: the sooner you come back, the more likely you are to have a relapse. In principle, as with any injury, if you are ahead of protocol. The percentage chance of relapse here is higher than if you endure the recovery time.

– Rehabilitation in case of Achilles rupture is more or less six months. Right?

“Six to eight months. It all depends on the body. Eight months is the maximum. Six, if I may say so, is the gold standard. Seven, probably, if somewhere there were moments of setback, of slowing down of rehabilitation.

According to my doctor, a Saudi Arabian national team footballer managed to recover in five months. It was a record. But he deliberately prepared to play the World Cup in Qatar.

It all depends on the characteristics of the human body and skin tone. Because the players in terms of height and dimensions in general are still a little smaller than us. It also depends on age.

In general, we will see. I don’t want to guess. We’ll just keep an eye on how things are going. We are constantly in contact with the doctor, we send him rehabilitation videos. We have good feedback. You cannot deceive nature, so you need to calmly wait for all deadlines and recover.

“I moved on crutches for eight weeks”

– Psychologically already easier?

– Yes. It’s been 11 weeks since the operation. I can already walk on my own, which adds optimism. He moved on crutches for about eight weeks. I watch how my leg is doing and remember what happened five weeks ago. Admittedly, the progress is encouraging.

The most important thing is that relatives are nearby. The family and the team help morally a lot. The time has therefore passed quite quickly. I can’t even say that the first two or three weeks were very depressing until it was possible to do some sort of rehabilitation. After the operation, I received a sufficient number of messages with words of support. It was a pleasure. It added optimism and kept the mood high.

In general, from the positive moments of this period, I would note that I began to spend more time with my family. When you have a season with practices, matches and trips, you seem to participate in family life, but it’s somehow not active enough. Now I can enjoy the atmosphere of communication with my family.

Let’s go to basketball. CSKA has not lost a single game since the start of the United League season, the army team’s winning streak now stands at 19 games. It’s a record ! Is anyone able to compete with your team this season?

– I’m afraid to give an evaluation of our performance. Records and the like are, of course, great, but those are just numbers. The most important period will be the end of April – the beginning of May. We all have one goal – to make the Belov Cup and win the United League. And now we have just played the first round of the championship, the second will start soon.

Moreover, it is seen that the rivals are working hard: Lokomotiv is now strengthened by foreigners, Zenit is also looking for its own game. Therefore, all the most interesting things are coming. But the most important matches, I repeat, are the playoffs. If you don’t win a trophy, no one will remember you had some kind of streak.

I’m happy that the guys are improving from game to game, from game situation to game situation. It’s clear that now I don’t spend as much time with the team as before the injury, but I still watch the matches. We see that with each game we are progressing. It’s very nice. If you remember, when in pre-season we lost the Kondrashin and Belov Cup and the United League Super Cup, everyone said that somehow everything was wrong not very well with us. Now, we see in the headlines that we have become invincible… In sport, everything changes very quickly. And the most important will be the end of the season. And who will come to the fore under what playing conditions will suit him.

– Why did the pre-season tournaments fail?

We probably needed some time to get used to it. Because the pre-season was incomplete. Dallas Moore arrived somewhere in pre-season training, Lech Shved, closer to the start of the season, began full training after injury. He missed most of the preparation for the championship. Milutinov and Davidovac were part of the Serbian national team and when they returned they needed to feel the rhythm of the game and their teammates. Of course, a new coach has arrived – a new philosophy.

In general, some teams at the start of the season looked a little better, some had a little more trouble. I think the daily work pays off. It’s clear that now all the threads between the players are intertwined: you watch the match and you see that the guys understand each other much better. Especially if you compare it with the pre-season. In general, stability and health are needed – then everything will be fine.

– On January 10, CSKA will play away to Paris Nizhny Novgorod. What do you think of the match with NN, for which you played before joining the Moscow club?

— I think it will be an interesting game. “Nizhniy” scored good conditions. Now they have beaten Lokomotiv on the road, showing solid play. However, it’s also difficult to paint a clear picture of the team here. This season, almost everyone is playing more or less successfully, with strong swings. For example, the Nizhny Novgorod team first lost to Samara by 40 points at home, and a month and a half later beat her with a difference of 30 points.

I expect a good game. Of course, I have many relatives and friends in Nizhny Novgorod. Of course, I will support CSKA. Well, and for the fact that Dima Khvostov and Zhenya Baburin from Nizhny showed good basketball. Because we are very close friends. Of course, I have a good relationship with the head coach of Nizhny Novgorod Zoran Lukich and the whole club, but I have been with CSKA since the seventh year and I will worry about my guys, but about Dimka and Buba ( Baburin) – separately. We, when Nizhny plays with someone, we always support Nizhny Novgorod. But when we play against each other, everyone is for themselves.

“In 30 years, we will probably make a film about the World Cup final in Qatar”

How did you meet 2023?

– Very well. I have been celebrating the New Year holidays at home with my family for a long time. Met in Moscow, a purely family atmosphere: wife, children, my parents and the parents of the wife. On New Year’s Eve, we stay at home, we have dinner with the family. Open gifts, play board games…

— One of the main sporting events of the past year was the World Cup. Did you follow the tournament?

— I’m not a football expert. But I was happy that this world championship took place exactly when I was in plaster and on crutches. He hardly left the house at that time. Still, this was in the first stage of rehabilitation, and time had to be endured.

So I watched football a lot. And the time with the World Cup has passed much faster. It really helped me to forget this sad period. Not so sad, no…just unpleasant. I am neither the first nor the last player to be injured and to be absent for a long time. Just be patient and optimistic.

As for the World Cup, the matches were played at a very opportune time. I had football on TV all the time. I think any fan is happy when the score is not 1:0, but, say, 3:2 or 4:3.

The last game was the icing on the cake. I think even people who don’t like football enjoyed it. I think maybe in thirty years some sort of movie will be made about that ending.

– Who were you supporting?

“Honestly, it didn’t matter. Just watched and enjoyed. The main thing was to see more effective actions.

– Do you think Messi is the greatest footballer?

I won’t make a choice here. Because I just enjoyed it.

When Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia in the first game, many people said that Messi was not the same. But within a few weeks the situation changed, and now everyone is saying, “I’ve been supporting Messi since the very first day of my life.” But I am not one of those people. Really just enjoyed the show, the atmosphere.