Zico brings zest for success to CSKA

Brazilian legend Zico has told uefa.com that he is hitting the ground running after starting his new job as PFC CSKA Moskva coach.

Pledge
The former Japan and Fenerbahçe SK chief spent the second part of 2008 coaching FC Bunyodkor to the Uzbekistan double, but last month he signed a three-year contract at CSKA, already assured of a 2009/10 UEFA Champions League place thanks to a strong finish to end as 2008 Russian runners-up. First Zico has to negotiate a tricky UEFA Cup Round of 32 tie with Aston Villa FC on 18 and 26 February before beginning the new league season next month.

Impressed
Prior to agreeing to succeed Valeri Gazzaev, the 55-year-old closeted himself with DVDs of CSKA's games. "I knew the CSKA players very well even before I started working at the club," Zico said. "So I have found nothing new since I came here. The only thing I did not expect to see were very talented young players like Georgi Schennikov or Alan Dzagoev. It is a real bonus to have such guys in the squad."

Competition
That pair's presence is especially useful due to a new Premier-Liga rule that restricts teams to having no more than six foreigners on the pitch at any one time. However CSKA, already boasting the likes of Vágner Love, have welcomed back Daniel Carvalho from loan and signed Czech prospect Tomáš Necid. If they are successful in landing Ouwo Moussa Maazou from KSC Lokeren OV, CSKA will have 14 non-Russian players but Zico is challenging them all to fight for places in the team.

Ambition
"I prefer to choose the best player at any given moment," Zico said. "That means that in every training session the lads have to work very hard if they want to win a place in the first XI." As for the lineup against Villa, Zico added: "There is plenty of time to decide. In any case we will go all out for victory. CSKA must aim to win every tournament the club enters. It is another question how successful we will be."

Compatriots
He also made a pledge to Vágner Love, the league's leading scorer last season with 20 goals - double his nearest rival. "Vágner has played in the national team but is out of the Brazilian squad at the moment," Zico said. "My aim is to help him progress and get back in the national team." Meanwhile, there was praise for another compatriot, Carvalho, who used his spell at SC Internacional to attempt to recapture his stellar form of 2005 when CSKA won the UEFA Cup and Russian league. "I like the way he works in training," Zico revealed. "His motivation is high and he can achieve a lot."

Russian breakthrough
Zico coached Japan to the 2004 AFC Asian Cup and then secured a domestic title for Fenerbahçe before leading them to the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals in a breakthrough year for Turkish football. Like that nation, Russia reached the UEFA EURO 2008™ semi-finals and Zico believes their league is on the up too. "The Premier-Liga is very competitive," he said. "[The last two champions] Zenit St. Petersburg and Rubin Kazan were not among the leaders three or four years ago. Moreover, two Russian clubs have won the UEFA Cup and the national team were semi-finalists at EURO 2008™. There is a lack of success at the World Cup and in the Champions League, but it will come."