Phil Russophobe

A member of the 1972 USSR super-series of 1972, captain of the Canadian national team Phil Esposito does not want to go to Russia if he is not paid 100 thousand dollars. According to Vancouver Sun, he said this in an interview with the PosteMedia News information agency, commenting on the plans for holding a match in Russia to the 40th anniversary of the legendary series. "I have no desire to go to Russia, not the slightest. No, if only 100 thousand dollars are paid to me. That's how much I want to go. Why do you want me to go to Russia? Only because the smelly Russians want this from me? Let someone else go. Nobody wants to. Believe me," Esposito said. “Well, perhaps Paul Henderson. But he will be the only one,” Esposito added. Henderson is the author of the famous goal, clogged 34 seconds before the end of the last match of the Super Series.

At the end of December last year, sources in Canadian hockey circles reported that the 40th anniversary of the 1972 super series is planned to be celebrated with meetings of the youth teams of Canada and Russia. Two matches were supposed to be held in Yaroslavl and two in Canada. The Canadian Hockey Association has not yet decided on the place of these matches.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with the President of the Russian Amateur Hockey League, Alexander Yakushev, said that he intends to personally invite Veterans of the Super Series and the leadership of the National Hockey League to Moscow in order to discuss the participation of Russian legionnaires with them in the Olympic Games in Sochi. “I would like to invite here our friends and your friends and acquaintances with whom you played 40 years ago, and some of them remain in sports and affect the adoption of this decision, invite them here, talk on this topic,” said Putin Yakushev.

The prime minister also noticed that one can not be limited only to conversations, but also to play hockey. “You can not only talk, but also play - we will agree with them, you can do this. Not for the sake of the result, but so that our fans and their fans can once again recall what was 40 years ago,” he added.

In April 2011, the legendary French footballer Zinedine Zidan refused to go to Chechnya to open the Akhmat Kadyrov stadium. “I didn’t receive any invitations. And it is quite obvious that I won’t go to any Chechnya. Even if I wanted, my work in the Madrid“ Real ”would not allow me to go to Grozny. It is very unpleasant for me to see how the organizers of some events, and this happens more and more often, say in the media that I will be present in most cases, that people are in an impudent lie. I can’t stand such things, ”Zidan said.

The fact that Zidan will come to Grozny at the opening of a new sports arena, said Minister of Sports Chechnya Khaidar Alkhanov. “We hope that the great Platini will come to Grozny. Zidan has already confirmed his participation in the festival,” Alkhanov said to several news agencies at once.