The atmosphere in the Togliatti football club “Akron” is very strong and friendly, which helps the team to show good results in the Russian Premier League (RPL). The Akron striker said this to Sport Express. Artem Dzyuba.

“The team is supported by the coaching staff and a very united team. It works. The atmosphere in the team is very strong and friendly. It is very important that when a series of failures occurred, the team did not start to retreat and tremble,” Dziuba said.

“Now almost all coaches are managers who need to bring the best players, and Zaur Eduardovich (Tedeev, head coach of Akron – approx.) really loves working with the academy. He is a football fanatic. After training he goes to watch the guys in the academy, he knows a lot of guys in all years. He is very deeply involved in all this,” he added.

Last season marked Akron’s debut RPLthe team took ninth place. This season, after 18 rounds, Togliatti’s team is in ninth place with 21 points.

The call-up to the Russian national team in 2025 was a shock for the striker Artem Dziuba. He told Sport Express.

In March Dzyuba scored against the Grenada team (5:0) and passed Alexandra Kerzakova scored for the Russian national team. Dzyuba reached the milestone of 31 goals, Kerzhakov scored 30 goals. Dzyuba played for the Russian national team for the first time since the summer of 2021, when he played for them at the European Championships.

“I didn’t believe it until recently, the invitation to the national team was a shock for me. When Valery Georgievich (Karpin, coach of the Russian national team – approx.) called and asked me if I wanted to join the national team, it was even funny – of course I want it,” said Dzyuba. “After they talked to him, I stared at one point for an hour and thought, ‘Am I dreaming?’

“The responsibility became greater as we got closer to the match. I knew that the Grenada national team is not the strongest team, but when I saw that all the players were healthy, under two metres, I understood that it would not be easy,” he added.

Artem Dzyuba