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Prominent Russian footballer Dzyuba: 'I’m a patriot of Russia'

Early last month, Artyom Dzyuba signed a contract with Lokomotiv Moscow FC

Artyom Dzyuba Sergei Fadeichev/TASS

Artyom Dzyuba

© Sergei Fadeichev/TASS

MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/. Prominent Russian footballer Artyom Dzyuba, who currently mans the forward spot for the Lokomotiv Moscow football club, reiterated on Wednesday that he was a true patriot of Russia and a staunch supporter of President Vladimir Putin.

"I believe in my country, I am a patriot of my country, I love my country," the footballer said in an interview with journalist Nobel Arustamyan that was posted earlier in the day on the YouTube channel ‘Nobel.’

"I am completely behind my president, I stand by Putin. I mean completely and have no need to hide it," he continued. "I’m for my country. I believe that everything will be alright eventually. I will stand by my country to the very end even if I have to sacrifice my life."

"History will judge who is right and who is wrong, but I believe and will continue believing that we stand for the right cause," Dzyuba said.

"I am very happy that in my country there is a man and a woman, there is a father and a mother," the player continued. "I am deeply proud of this and that it will always remain this way - a man is coupled with a woman in our country. Parents - a father and mother."

"Our values, which are about the family and love for our children. I don’t want to go in depth about the details, but I don’t like the recent global trends at all," he added.

Early last month, Dzyuba signed a contract with Lokomotiv Moscow FC. He previously played five matches for Turkey’s Adana Demirspor football club and scored one goal after he left Russia’s Zenit St. Petersburg FC in May 2022.

Dzyuba, 34, is the former captain of the Russian national football team, and joined Zenit St. Petersburg FC in 2015, scoring 108 goals in 249 matches with the club, where he won four national championships to go with four titles at the Super Cup of Russia. He parted ways with the club earlier this year.

During his stint with the national squad, Dzyuba scored 30 goals across 50 appearances, becoming the top scorer in the history of the national team, surpassing 2nd place Alexander Kerzhakov (30 goals in 90 matches played) and 3rd place Vladimir Beschastnykh (26 goals in 71 matches played).

At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, hosted by Russia in 11 cities across the country, Dzyuba led his national squad to the quarterfinals stage of the global football championship, where Russia lost to Croatia in a penalty shootout (3-4) following a tense match which ended in a 2-2 draw after regulation time. Dzyuba notched three goals and two assists at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

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