2DROTS is the leading media football club. The team confirms its status with success in the Fonbet Russian Cup. The “Samurai” have already reached the 1/32 final, they have only three stages left before the matches with the RPL clubs. Ahead is a serious test in the form of Khimki. But whatever the outcome, 2DROTS has already written history. Thanks to whom did the club appear in the first place? And what successes have you had, apart from winning the Cup?
Initially, 2DROTS was a YouTube channel created by two bloggers: Evgeniy Babenko and Nikita Panasyuk. The boys had filmed pranks before, but in 2016 they changed the format to football. The channel mainly featured videos about the computer game FIFA, as well as on-field challenges. For example, one of the first videos was filmed together with Fyodor Smolov and Pavel Mamaev, who then played in Krasnodar. The objective is to hit the crossbar. The video has 1.2 million views after seven years. And the most popular video is related to free throws: the loser received a ridiculous haircut (he won 7.6 million). In 2018, 2DROTS first appeared on the field as a football team. Then, the participants who starred in videos on the channel got together and went out to play with Herman’s team, El Classico (the future “Amkal”).
EVGENY BABENKO AND NIKITA PANASYUK
Photo: vk.com/media.football.league
For the first time in a serious media tournament, the Darts competed in 2020. Then they participated in the Moscow Celebrity Cup (MCC) and finished in fourth place (the team, by the way, was led by former Torpedo coach Igor Chugainov ). Gradually, 2DROTS became more popular: Alexander Sobolev, Anton Miranchuk, Fedor Chalov and other players of the Russian national team participated in the video recording. At the same time, the “samurai” continued to develop equipment. In 2021 they reached the ISS finals, but lost to Amkal. And Dmitry Kuznetsov, USSR champion with CSKA and former Espanyol player, took over as coach of the team.
“Samurai” – media football “Real”
The real success of 2DROTS came with the Media Football League. The club won the first and second seasons of the MFL. In the first final at the VTB Arena in Moscow they beat Basement (4-0), and in the second in Krasnodar they beat Rodina Media (1-1, 3-1 Blvd.). And among the trophies, MKS took bronze, beating Amkal (1-0) in the third place match. The victory in the first season of the MFL allowed 2DROTS to participate in the Russian Cup. The team received a wild card! And she was great! In the first round he defeated Chertanovo (3-0) at the Khimki Arena, and in the next round he almost beat Ivanovo Tekstilshchik (1-1, 3-5 on penalties). Despite the defeat, they even started talking about “darts” on federal television and their meetings were broadcast on “Match TV.”
2DROTAS
Photo: vk.com/media.football.league
The club continued to make history on the pitch. In 2023, 2DROTS won a tournament in Kazakhstan and also conquered the ISS. In the third season of the MFL, the team finished second, losing in the final to Rodina Media (1-3). Another interesting event was the victory over CSKA in a friendly match at the VEB Arena. The army lost 1:2, while not the youth team took to the field, but several players from the first team: Gaich, Moisés, Shchennikov, Zdelar, Mukhin, Chalov, Zabolotny, Kuchaev (and CSKA also had a club legend, Daniel Carvalho, as substitute).
Dmitri Kuznetsov
2DROTS coach talks about the victory over CSKA
“Of course, they are more skilled and had an advantage. We play defensively because we can’t play like that yet. Our guys were not professionals: they finished acting after the academy. Now they have resumed their careers. Naturally, CSKA had the advantage. The main thing is that people liked football! Of course I liked football! In the end, my voice broke. “I couldn’t even dream that I could beat CSKA.”
How are CSKA and other top teams doing in the current Russian Cup season?
Spartak is in the playoffs and Zenit has become the leader. Designs in the Russian Cup.
The main stars of 2DROTS
Team members should be divided into two categories: media stars and football players who enter the field (although some fall into both definitions). Many 2DROTS players went through the academies of the top RPL clubs: CSKA, Lokomotiv, Spartak and Dynamo. That is why it is difficult to call them simple bloggers. Even so, a large number of players have training and school. If we take the media stars of the Club, the main ones are: Evgeniy Babenko (Zheka), Nikita Panasyuk (Nekit), Romeo Ntu (Mbape), Ilya Mukhlynin (Hul), Oleg Bondar (Vagabond), Adam Fadeby (Big Smoke), José Eriksson (Eric), Alex Imadojemu (Alex Messi), Eitan Vieira (Eitan), Bogdan Timoshenko (Dachnik), Andrey Belov (Belka) and Karen Harutyunyan (Karen). These guys are mainly involved in organizational and entertainment activities and often appear in videos. And during games they usually stay on the sidelines or don’t have much time.
2DROTAS
Photo: vk.com/media.football.league
In important matches of the Russian Cup, MFL and ISS, footballers who trained and played in professional clubs take to the field. The most popular in the current 2DROTS lineup: goalkeeper Dmitry Sychev (trained in the CSKA system), defenders Ilya Salnikov (ex-Spartak), Denis Gudaev (ex-Sibir), Artur Beglaryan (ex-Ararat), Vadim Loginov (ex-Lokomotiv) and Vladislav Semenov (ex-Spartak Nalchik), midfielders Walter Sklyar Adams (ex-CSKA Youth Sports School), Alexander Stepanov (ex-Rostov and Torpedo), Stanislav Manaev (ex-SSHOR “Zenit” and ” Tosno”), Maxim Frolov, Artyom Talabko (ex-Spartak Nalchik), Vladislav Oslonovsky (ex-Spartak, Nosta, Tyumen, Shinnik) Vladimir Filippov (ex-” Zilina, Zvezda Saint Petersburg), Alexander Balashov (ex-CSKA and Lokomotiv ), as well as forwards Gottfried Klutsey, Danila Proshlyakov (ex-Spartak) and Levan Kudukhov (ex-Lokomotiv and Fakel).
It is interesting that Klutsey (Gaucho) is interested in the RPL club Paris NN. The forward himself told the Championship: “I saw the news that Paris NN is interested in me.” This is true. My friend Mamadou Maiga plays there, we corresponded with him. What if there is an offer? We’ll have to call the bosses Zhenya and Nikita and talk. I am ready to act, but not immediately: we have a Russian Cup match. In winter? If they invite you in winter, I will go.”
Gottfried Klutzey
Photo: vk.com/media.football.league
The path of 2DROTS in the Russian Cup – 2023/2024
The RFU allowed three media football teams to participate in the Cup. They were selected based on the results of the third season of the IFL. Rodina Media came to the Cup as champions, and 2DROTS and Amkal as silver and bronze medalists, respectively. But the teams had different results. Rodina Media lost to Dynamo Vologda (0:3) already in the first stage. Amkal advanced to the 1/256 Krasnoye Znamya final (3:2), but lost to Tekstilshchik in the next round (0:0, 3:4 pen). But 2DROTS has already defeated three opponents. In the final of 1/256 they beat Sakhalin at home (2:0), then in Murom they faced the local Murom (3:1). And in the 1/64 final there was a unique match “at the ends of the Earth” with Dynamo Kirov. The clubs played on a specially built field on a floating dock at a station in the village of Belokamenka, Murmansk region. 2DROTS won a crushing 2:0 victory, becoming the first media football club to go through three stages of the Cup.
This is how it went:
Historic success of the media club in the Russian Cup! 2DROTS won the floating dock match!
Now Dmitry Kuznetsov’s team will have to face Khimki. And this is a strong club from the First League – 2DROTS has never had such an opponent at the professional level. It is even more interesting that the “samurai” are shown at a similar level.
Dmitri Kuznetsov
2DROTS head coach
“The level of the First League is higher than that of the Second, that is why we are preparing seriously. We look at Khimki and try to extract useful information and highlight its strengths and weaknesses. But it is still unknown which lineup the rival will play. Talalaev said that the players who have received less game practice will come out, but we will prepare for the main team.”
The next 2DROTS match is a chance for another miracle. If they win, “Darts” will only have two opponents left before the match against the RPL Club. But considering they already beat CSKA, should Khimki and other teams be worried? It is interesting that Nekit, one of the presidents of the club, in an interview with the YouTube channel “VPISKA”, spoke about 2DROTS’s ambitions to enter the RPL: “I think that if there is a company that wants to make a historic project , something that has not been done anywhere else. From children playing FIFA on the couch and filming challenges, they became a professional team. If there is an investor or anyone willing to support this idea, then it is quite feasible. Money is needed here. There is the “American dream” and then there is the “Russian dream”, where great success is achieved from below.” So 2DROTS should get used to this level!
