A new hero of the Handballfast author’s rubric is the head coach of Vive Kielce, the legend of the world handball, who won a lot of titles as a player, including the Olympic gold (in 1992), and who won the Champions league (in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2016) as a coach. Talant Dujshebaev about his grandsons Leo and Ugo, military service, records of sleep, Kyrgyz cuisine and watch collection.
— When we arranged the interview, you immediately warned me: "I am a late riser, don’t call me early". How many hours of sleep are enough for you?
— At least eight hours. Ten hours are ideal. Then I’ll feel great. By the way, many people say that over the years I will start spending less and less time on sleep. But nothing changes yet.
— Were there records in this regard?
— It was in 1992 in Barcelona. We beat Sweden in the final and returned to the Olympic village after the award ceremony. We decided to celebrate gold medals. But I was already completely exhausted. I drank three glasses of beer, laid down on the bed and passed out. Everything had an impact — terrible fatigue, tremendous tension, and I didn’t close an eye the day before the final. Eventually I slept exactly 24 hours! It never happened again, but I can easily hit the rack for 17-18 hours after a hard road.
— Someone takes a contrast shower in the morning to cheer up, somebody relies on coffee, green tea or energy drinks. What are your recipes?
— First of all, no energy drinks. Coffee is a different matter. Not more than one or two cups. And secondly… Of course, I like to sleep. But sometimes I have to wake up at five to six in the morning to get to the train station or the airport. It’s not a problem. I have military hardening after all. I think as a soldier — what has to be done, has to be done. I quickly get up, wash up, get dressed, take a bag and go ahead. You can take a nap for half an hour while you’re on the bus. And after that in the train or on the plane. Thus, by the end of the day I gain my eight hours of sleep. I’m one of lucky people who easily falls asleep everywhere. For example, when I was serving in the army and I had to go somewhere, I even slept standing in the subway while holding onto the handrail! It was fine!
— Are you implying a sport unit while talking about army?
— Not only that. I was drafted into the army in 1986. I didn’t manage to get through into CSKA at once. At first I played for the reserve team and for Iskra, its second division squad. And you could be really sent to a sport unit for minor misconducts for a while. But that’s nothing. The cavern was situated right on Leningradskiy Avenue near the court.
I was really frightened when once I was sent to Siberia in winter to the ordinary military base, where handball player Eduard Medvedev, basketball player Igors Miglinieks and other athletes were in service. I don’t remember the town now. I remember vividly that it took me about three days in total to get there on the chaise. And when I left the train, I was impressed — everywhere you look was snow, snow, snow… And the green crown of pines. Taiga! Thank God, I spent only a few of days there. Then the lieutenant colonel called me: "Private Dujshebaev, I don’t know who you are, but a directive was received ordering to move you back to Moscow. Pack your things and get out of here". I felt relieved. I thought I had to forget about handball for the next year.
— What was the day of the most difficult physical work, not related to handball, in your life?
— I was 12, I was on vacations at my grandma’s at lake Issyk-Kul. Once the collective farm chairman gathered boys from all around and told us to help the forestry to plant fir-trees on the slope. We’ve done it all the week. I was extremely exhausted! My back was killing me, my hands became calloused… Imagine — you plant two dozens of trees every day. You drag each tree uphill, dug a hole, level out. From morning till night. It is really hard! I even didn’t think about money. It was even more surprising when I got paid more than 100 rubles. It was a huge sum for a twelve-year-old boy. I returned home with presents. I bought perfume for my mother and eau de cologne for farther, shirts, shoes and something else for my older brothers.
— You are from Kyrgyzstan, you’ve lived in the USSR for a long time, then moved to Spain and spent the last 11 years in Poland. Whom do you feel yourself?
— The country I was born in disappeared many years ago. I’m talking about the Soviet Union. Thus, I’m the citizen of the world. I feel comfortable everywhere — in Kyrgyzstan, Russia, in Western and Eastern Europe… If only my family was with me. And good working conditions as well.
At the same time, when I come to native Bishkek I feel that they don’t consider me theirs. Like in Moscow, where I lived for many years. The similar story happens with Spain and Poland. But, on the one hand, I’m considered as a stranger in these countries, on the other hand, they treat me well. Concerning my mentality… It remains Soviet, as it had been.
— How many languages do you know?
— Kyrgyz, Russian, Spanish, Polish… While I was playing in Germany during four years, I managed to learn German. My English is worse. But people in locker-room and restaurant will understand me.
— In what language do you think?
— In Russian. I speak it in my sleep. Books, films, music — everything is in this language. Unfortunately, I begin to forget Kyrgyz. I could practice with my parents before, but my father died in 2004 and mother — in 2010. My brother Elmis and friends, remaining in Bishkek, are Russian-speaking. Though they had lived there for so many years, their Kyrgyz is not so good. We are all children of the Soviet Union. We are used to Russian being our main language.
— Do you often visit Bishkek?
— Once a year. I noticed that with age I become homesick. Besides my parents, two older brothers are buried there. They died early. I wouldn’t even like to remember details. Ernis died at the age of 24, Erkin — two weeks before 28 years.
As you can see, my parents named the first three sons with the «E» word. It was my mom’s idea. She also wanted to name me Erdzhan to continue the tradition. But my father was stubborn: "No! He will be Talant!" The name "Talant" in ancient Greek means a bar of gold.
— It is symbolical. You have two sons, both play for Vive Kielce. Alex is 32, Daniel is 27. Who is better at Russian?
— The older one. He played several seasons for Vardar, where there were a lot of our guys — Dibirov, Rastvortsev, Chipurin, Gorbok. Alex constantly communicated with them. But he still speaks with an accent, like Daniel. They think in Spanish. They translate from Spanish to Russian before saying something. Thereby, sometimes they say such pearls!
— Is Alex’s wife Spanish?
— Yes, her name is Irene. They have already given me two grandsons. Ugo is five, Leo is two. Feels like polyglots are growing. While Irene speaks only Spanish with them, my wife, Olga, and I speak only Russian. And they speak Polish in kindergarten.
And Daniel has neither spouse, nor children yet. Once he said with a laugh: "Dad, I look at my brother and it’s enough for me".
— What are your favorite Kyrgyz, Russian, Spanish and Polish dishes?
— To start with, I’m omnivorous, unpretentious. But Spanish cuisine is my favorite — seafood, fish, meat. Everything is fresh. And tuna! Olga cooks it better than in any restaurant. It is finger-licking’s good!
When I come to Kyrgyzstan, I go crazy about national dished — pilaf, manty, samosa… They have one disadvantage — they are really high in calories. You gain weight immediately if you fall for it. By the way, I cook pilaf myself. I like it with chicken even more, than with lamb. Probably, I will be cursed after these words by my compatriots, ha-ha.
Regarding Russian cuisine, I love borsch. I’m ready to eat it every day. Meatballs, perfectly cooked by Olga, are on the second place. Dumplings go third.
And I liked zurek in Poland, it’s a rye sourdough soup. And pierogi with different stuffing. With goose is on the top!
— What is the most disgusting thing you’ve ever tried?
— Oysters. The only type of seafood, that inspires aversion. Matcha, Japanese powered green tea, is from the same category. Someone enjoys it, but it’s something unimaginable for me. Muddy, greenish… it’s just awful!
— A famous football coach Luciano Spalletti collects hammers. What about you?
— I used to collect watches. I had many watches — Swiss and our commander’s models, Slava, Polet… I gave almost everything to friends and nephews later. I kept four and wear it in turn.
— What are the most expensive watches from your surviving collection?
— Patek Philippe Nautilus. It cost 25,000 euro ten years ago. Today this model is five times more expensive. You can see how prices went up. Moreover, this model is not available in the company store. You have to order and wait at least a year and a half. Generally Patek Philippe stands apart from a variety of watches companies. In my opinion, it’s a style and craftsmanship icon. The focus is always on quality, not quantity. Perhaps, someone would disagree with me. It’s like with cars. Someone likes Mercedes, others prefer BMW or Bentley.
— Since we’ve mentioned cars, do you have certain preferences?
— I’m a Porsche fan with experience. In my view, Porsche is the best option for price-quality ratio. I raced a tiny 911 in my youth. But the older you get, the worse your knees bend, therefore the focus shifts to comfort instead of speed, beauty and excitement. Thus, after a while I switched to Panamera and years later I changed it to even more spacious Cayenne. But I drive BMW X5 in Poland — under the contract the players and coaches of Kielce should drive cars, provided by the club’s sponsor.
— What is the last book you read?
— The Count of Monte Cristo. It’s my favorite book. I read it for the first time as a teenager, for the second time at the age of 22. Recently I decided to refresh my memory and I caught myself thinking that the novel is perceived in a completely different way in youth. It seems to be romantic — Chateau d’If, escape, treasure, revenge… And if you try on the fate of Edmond Dantes, you understand that you would never like to be in his skin.
Well, cinematic Ippolit correctly said: "We live such boring lives! We lost the spirit of adventurism, we no longer climb through the windows to our beloved women..." When you are over fifty, these words are particularly relevant.
— Peaky Blinders is Aleksandr Ermakov’s favorite series, Dmitriy Khmelkov likes Policemen from Rublevka. What about you?
— Liquidation. Concerning something modern, I would mention Method and Sniffer. And several comedy series on TNT channel. Easy, harmless, with humor. When you come home tired in the evening and turn on the TV — just what I need.
— A famous tennis player Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the Olympic champion in Sydney, once told me: "I can’t stand blondies and cognac". What do you dislike, except oysters and Japanese tea?
— Having lived in Spain, I understood that I hate chilly weather, grey sky, wind and slush. It’s a common story in Moscow from November to March.
I also don’t like jerkness. Respecting seniors is in my blood. Unfortunately, it is lost in Europe now.
— Complete the sentence: "To become happy in 2025 I need..."
— Our big family’s health is the most important thing. I wish myself as the head coach of Kielce just less injuries!
*Author — Sport-Express reporter, specially for Handballfast
Photo: Vive Kielce press, personal archive of Talant Dujshebaev
