We found Théo Bongonda who plays the title in Russia: “It would take a lot for me to leave Moscow”

However, it is always the same cheerful and direct boy that we joined on the phone a few days ago. He had only a reluctance: that he is only told about the war and the Vladimir Putin. We preferred to discuss football, even if the conflict regularly returned to the conversation.

You get to the end of your second season in Russia, how is it going?

“Very well. I am satisfied with my season (Editor’s note: 7 goals and 3 assists in 25 games)even if I could have done better. The level is good here. I think the Russian top 5 is stronger than the Belgian top 5. I am in a very big club in Spartak, a club which is able to spend 20 million in January (Editor’s note: Levi Garcia bought at AEK Athens). Which Belgian club is capable of doing this? I must also say that I have a good salary here. It’s just a shame that we are not too publicized and that we cannot play the Champions League. I do not bury myself in Russia. “

The level of the championship must still have dropped since the war, right?

“Technically, it is less strong than in Liga from where I came from. But I must admit that I did not imagine the championship as hard. The Russians do not let go. You dribble the guy once, he returns, a second time, he returns again. It’s very intense and it pleasantly surprised me.”

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The top scorer in the championship is one of your teammates: Manfred Ugalde who was still in Lommel in 2023.

“Manfred played in Belgium? I did not even know. He was in D2 and no club of the Belgian top came to look for him? Is that crazy.”

Are you eight points behind the Krasnodar leader four days from the end, do you still believe it?

“Yes, but we know what it will be very hard. We no longer have our fate in your hands. There is still the Zenit and the CSKA in front of us. Our coach tells us that we are in the hunter’s position and that we have to put pressure on them.”

Your coach is the legend of Serbian football Dejan Stankovic, Winner of the Champions League with Inter in 2010.

“He has a fairly special personality. How to say? He is authentic, but then really very authentic (laughs).”

In what sense?

“I had never met a coach who was also direct and frank. He doesn’t care if it hurts or not, he says what he thinks when he thinks it. At first, we were very surprised but we ended up taming. We saw that his game plan worked and it helped well. I get along well with him but he is incomparable with all the coaches that I know. We met, he said to me: ‘If you give yourself 100 %, I will give myself 120 % for you but if you give yourself 40 %, I will give myself 10 % for you.’ These are the kind of sentences that I like. “

How is your daily life going in Moscow?

“If I did not know that there is war, I would not notice it. When I was told that the Spartak was interested in me, I thought directly of the conflict but I never had any problem. I have never heard any bomb. I live in a quiet area with my wife and my daughter, who return more regularly to Belgium. For me, it’s more complicated. Obviously do not exist. (smile).”

Moscow lives as a European city where there would not be war?

“Yes, exactly. There are just some things that are more complicated to find in American and European brands. There are many very rich Russians but you see few Mercedes for example. European bank cards do not work here but these are just small details.”

From Europe, it’s complicated to follow your services.

“Yes, it is sure, the championship is only broadcast on a Russian channel. Fortunately, my family and friends always manage to find links to watch my matches. Sometimes they send me videos of my actions and I am always surprised. I also had to install a VPN to bypass the ban on a few social networks like Instagram.”

The Russians still go to the stadium?

“Saturday in the derby against the CSKA with us, it was the second time that we played in a Sold-out stadium after a trip to Zenit. The Russian government has established an ID fan to be able to return to the stadiums. Basically, you have to go to your town, communicate your personal information and we give you the card. But the Russian ultra do not like to give their info too much, so it’s not full (laughs).”

Do European recruiters also come to the stadium?

“I don’t really know. It is possible to make transfers elsewhere, so I imagine it’s followed.”

It doesn’t seem too much to bother you.

“I’m going to be 30 years old this year. I have a contract until 2026, I am in a big club where I play all the games and where I am happy. It would really take a very strong project at all levels to convince me to leave. There have already been a few small discussions for a possible contract extension but it is not yet concrete. Cadiz then I was taught the interest of Spartak and two weeks later, I played in the Russian championship. “

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In 2026, you may play the World Cup with the Congo.

“Yes, we are at the top of our qualifying group at four games from the end. Senegal must still come to our house but if we do not lose, we will be off to a good start. It’s very hard to win with us, with the old synthetic all dry and all the supporters.”

The Congolese really call you Théo Messi?

“I don’t know who is the crazy who came out but it stayed. Everyone calls me like this. They find that my ball conduct has Messi’s tunes. It’s nice but it’s amazing. I still asked that we put” Bongonda “as a flocking (laughs).”

You were close to the Devils when you were in Genk. You have no regrets?

“Absolutely none. Already, I have never been called by the Devils. We always said that I was close but there was never anything. One day, the Congo selected me and I said yes, quite simply.”

Could you have brought something to the Devils?

“I don’t know but the coach (NDLR: Roberto Martinez) never took me back When I got the goals in Genk. I was told every time: ‘You are close to the group, you still have to work’. It is that we did not count on me. I never felt respected. In any case, I would never have had the status I have today in Congo. I get so much love. I would never have received a quarter of half of this recognition in Belgium. When I see how we sometimes dare to talk about Romelu (Lukaku) or Kevin (By Bruyne), It exceeds me. Afterwards, I don’t spit on Belgium. It remains the country where I was born and where my family lives. You talked to me about my daily life in Russia but you should have asked me for the Congo (laughs).”

We ask you then.

“I can no longer go out in the street. It is really impossible to make 20 meters on the street without provoking a huge crowd. You have to have a police escort, it’s incredible. The Congo is 120 million crazy football.”

A Congo-Belgium at the World Cup, does that heat you?

“It would be a nice bonus (smile). But we must already qualify and each match is complicated in Africa. When you go to Djibouti, you play on horrible terrain and in difficult conditions. The guys playing in Europe have names but it’s not worth anything here. Sometimes the locals (Editor’s note: players who play in clubs in Africa) are better because they know the things. “