Henrikh Mkhitaryan: "I was often criticised for not doing homework."

On the eve of the friendly match with Zenit the Shakhtar midfielder has answered the questions of the Russian newspaper “Sport den za dnem”. We bring you the most interesting quotes from the interview.

On the match with Zenit

- The game will be very good, even though it is only a preparatory stage: for us ahead of the Champions League and for Zenit before the Europa League. Yes, maybe it's billed as the super game, but both teams are going into it being in different forms, far from optimum. For us, this will surely be just another meeting as part of preparation for the match against Borussia Dortmund.

On the early move

- When I moved from Pyunik to Metalurh Donetsk, I was just Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and still am. Maybe someone has some other thoughts on it: that I am a star. Well, I'll try to develop my best qualities, to grow further. I do not know, maybe the fact that I left my homeland quite early had an impact, and the Armenian school was quite different.

On Sarkis Hovsepian

- To be honest, deep down, it was very painful. He was a legend of the Armenian football, there will be kind memories about him at Zenit. For me, this information was very unexpected. On the other hand, he was 40 and had to somehow say goodbye to football. I can only wish Sarkis sound health and good luck in the future.

On education

- I used to be criticized all the time at home for not doing the homework. They wanted me to be a good, intelligent person in the first place and only then an athlete, because if it hadn’t worked out in football, I would have to do something else. I am grateful to my parents for guiding me to the right path. I started doing well in school: I learned everything, be it languages, geography. For a man the main thing is what he is like in real life, not on the field.

On Brazilian team-mates

- What is the language of football? You should be able to understand your friend via a single movement, and for me this is not a problem. Since I know a little Portuguese, I can easily communicate with them.

On Zenit’s interest

- I am not aware of that. I haven’t been approached by anyone in this regard. I am the Shakhtar player, and the main thing for me now is play for Shakhtar, showing my role in this club.

On a joint CIS championship

- It is not up to me to decide, but uniting so many countries into one strong league is an interesting idea, it will be an interesting tournament. I'll be glad if this championship becomes a reality.

FC Shakhtar
Press Office