“I forgot how to breathe.” Sabitov remembered how Karpin caught him late at night in a restaurant

Former Spartak defender Renat Sabitov told how Valery Karpin demanded professionalism and discipline from football players.

Sabitov played for Spartak from 2007 to 2011, played 64 matches and provided four assists. Karpin worked at the club first as general director and then as head coach from 2008 to 2014.

— We crossed paths with Georgich in a restaurant after 23:00. This was my most expensive dinner. There was a silent scene then. When I saw Karpin, I forgot how to breathe. My friend silently gets up and closes the table so that we don’t waste time on this. We go out, and a friend says: “Then you’ll tell me how much.” The next day Karpin comes up: “Well, didn’t you get enough sleep? It’s okay, you’ll get it by lunchtime.” But we actually went for coffee. Until I was 26, I didn’t drink alcohol at all. At most I could take a sip on New Year’s Day and that’s it.

Karpin kept an eye on everything. When I joined the team, I immediately said who should weigh and how much. In general, everything was fine with my weight. After a two-week vacation, Fedka and I [Федором Кудряшовым] for the first time they brought 700 extra grams. Georgich began to scold us: “No days off.” He always demanded professionalism. We would have lost these 700 grams in one workout, but Karpin demanded the right attitude,” the Championship quotes Sabitov.

Watch live broadcasts of MIR RPL matches on the Match TV and MATCH PREMIER TV channels, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.