Dynamo Kyiv captain Serhiy Sydorchuk talks about the new season, the war, the Champions League and the Ukrainian national team.
Sergei Sidorchuk (photo: fcdynamo.kiev.ua)"Jesus said that he would very much like Dynamo to compete again"
— Sergei, I know that before the draw you predicted that Dynamo's rival would again be Fenerbahce. How do you rate your group in the Europa League?
- I can't say anything specific about the group as a whole. I know Fenerbahce well because we recently played with them.
For the rest, it is still difficult to give any balanced assessment. From the third pot, we got one of the strongest teams that were there. Based on the organization of the game, the work of the coach, the latest acquisitions, we can conclude that they are more serious than ever for this season. It will be hard with them.
Plus, I heard that Jesus said that he would really like Dynamo (Kyiv) as rivals, for him our team is akin to soreness.
As for Rennes, French teams are always athletic. There are many football players from the African continent, and they are characterized by such qualities as strength and speed. This is if offhand.
According to AEK, we watched their game with Dnipro-1, it’s hard to say anything specific now from what we saw. I can say for sure that Mister will carefully prepare us for the Europa League and there will be no problems with this. We will have all the necessary information immediately before the matches.
— What is the mood in the team now after a very difficult, both physically and emotionally, match against Benfica in Lisbon?
- By and large, everyone understood that Benfica is a team of the Champions League level. In all respects: by organization, by structure, by name, this is a Champions League team.
The most annoying thing is that they did not score the chances that they themselves created, but scored after our mistakes. Morally, it's harder to accept. We are preparing for the championship, now there are no moral problems, we have already forgotten this game.
— You missed the first match against Benfica due to disqualification, you watched the game from the stands. How would you rate the work of your teammates in the middle lane? To what extent did they manage to squeeze the "oxygen" to the opponent?
- I'm not an analyst, and not in the coaching staff, but by and large, I liked the game. But then again: two mistakes, plus in the second half, if we were a little more successful, we could seize the chance and score a goal, maybe even two.
And Benfica then surrendered in the second half, this could play a cruel joke on them. After all, it is very difficult to return to the game when you lower the requirements for the game itself during the match. There both Sanya Karavaev could have scored, and Vitya... I think we missed a goal.
“Lucescu understood that the championship of Ukraine would not be finished, so he tried to help Dynamo and the national team”
— Compared to other Ukrainian clubs, you and your partners have so far played the most official matches this season. How would you rate your physical condition now? Has the team already gained optimal form or is this process still ongoing?
“Purely physically, we feel very good. If you remember, we played two games of 120 minutes each and looked pretty good in them.
Even if you look at friendly games, starting from the end of March, we have played about 20 games together with the training camp. We have played a sufficient number of games, both for charity and for the national team. There are no problems in this regard. Here, a slightly different component will come to the fore more.
— I would like to go back a little and ask you to remember February 24: how did you meet this day, what did you do and how did you react to what was happening?
— To be honest, I don't want to remember it. I already said somewhere in an interview that on the evening of February 23, my wife took meat out of the refrigerator to defrost and cook for the children. She woke me up at 4 something in the morning, because she herself woke up from clapping.
We live near Zhuliany airport. And I don't know what it was: either the air defense was working, or something else, but we woke up from the vibration. The handles from the door that opens the balcony flew out, and another one on the window.
The eldest daughter ran out of her room and started crying. We understood that the war had begun.
Then I called Seryoga Krivtsov because we are neighbors. We discussed what was happening, these sounds, the glow... I asked: "What are we going to do?" He says: "Come to us, we will go to the parking lot."
We went to them, but all this time we were all reading the news and were shocked, like all people in our country. We sat in the parking lot for two nights, and then moved to the Dynamo base and were already there with the team.
— Arkady Zaporozhanu told me in the spring that Mircea Lucescu actively helped to evacuate the families of footballers to Romania. How did it happen?
— We were traveling by bus across the border. It was all crumpled up because no one understood how to transport it. You remember that the enemies were near Kyiv and the situation changed not just every day, but every hour or two.
Somewhere at night, around 22-23 hours, we decided to leave and decided to do it early in the morning. We reached the Moldovan border, where we were met by the assistant head coach Emil Karas. At first, it was he, together with Andrey Budnarash and Arkady Zaporozhan, who helped the most.
We drove to the city of Iasi, where they were based. But my wife was pregnant at that time, and we moved to Bucharest, and we needed to find some kind of clinic to manage the pregnancy. And already in Bucharest, Mircea Lucescu helped us with everything.
Then Krivtsov and Stepanenko with their families also came there. Lucescu helped with housing and medical issues, and spent all day organizing charity matches for the team.
He understood that there would be no championship, but his main goal was to help the Ukrainian team prepare for the qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup. He understood that he had many collections and this was one of the important goals.
"The initiator and energizer of the volunteer group of football players was Stepanenko"
— You and your teammates organized a volunteer group. Tell us how this process took place, who was a part of it, and what exactly did you acquire, if this is not confidential information.
- Many football players were included in it. Someone helped once, and someone tried to help for a month and a half.
We realized that we need to be included in this process, we have the opportunity and cannot stay away from what is happening in Ukraine.
Plus, an important message was given by the President of Ukraine: if every person in his place helps, then Ukraine will win. It doesn't matter if this person is fighting, building something or an athlete. Everyone should be as useful to Ukraine as possible. And so we organized.
The initiator and energizer of this movement was Taras Stepanenko. He constantly resolved some issues, was in touch, communicated with everyone, negotiated purchases. And they bought body armor, ammunition and first aid kits.
— Some football players behaved in this situation frankly in a bestial way. Please tell me, did you have any conversation with Tymoshchuk, Ordets or Ivaniseni after the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
— I didn’t communicate with them much even before the invasion, and even more so after.
— I was told that at some point Dynamo trained either in Drohobych or in Truskavets, at the old stadium. This is true?
- Yes, the guys trained in Skhidnytsia. More precisely, they were based there, and trained where they could: on artificial fields or somewhere else.
We started a full-fledged training process in March, but everything was not easy, crumpled. Everyone had their own problems, so it was a rather difficult process.
“The largest tribune in Dortmund chanted “Dynamo” (Kyiv) and “Ukraine”
— You have played a lot of exhibition matches, among which I remember Everton and Borussia because of the name and status of the opponent. How were you received in Liverpool and Dortmund? How did you feel playing in such legendary stadiums?
- It was a little different from the matches that we played at similar stadiums in European competitions. But in general, each country met us in its own way.
When we played the first game with Legia, there was a very warm welcome. Powerful support, a lot of people from Ukraine at the stadium, it was very cool.
It was also great in Dortmund - the largest stand at the Signal Iduna Park stadium was chanting "Dynamo (Kyiv)" and "Glory to Ukraine". In this regard, the emotions were great.
Borussia and Legia stand apart for me. But it would be ugly to single out someone, because all the teams agreed to play with us and support Ukraine.
— In May-June, the Ukrainian national team played qualifying matches for the World Cup and three games in the League of Nations. There was euphoria after Scotland, and after Wales — disappointment. How did you experience these results within yourself?
- Hard. For those who are older, this was the last opportunity to get to the World Cup. And we could not take this last step.
I don’t want to find excuses, we were very worried. But football is great because when you go out for each subsequent match, you can at least improve your mood.
Not long, but short. In the long run, it is clear that the imprint remains, but in the short term, you can make yourself feel good in the next game. And so it happened.
— How would you rate the support of Dynamo in Poland? Do you communicate with local fans before or after matches?
- Local fans don't go to Lodz especially to our matches. It’s just that in Poland we have a large diaspora, and for the most part they are women with children.
It is clear that it is better than at home than in Ukraine, no one will cheer for us anywhere, but we must say thanks to all those who come to the stadium to help us and cheer for us so that Ukrainian football is afloat.
"That's why I wrote that post on Instagram..."
— The new season of the Ukrainian Championship began with a bunch of scandals: either a showdown with the telepool, then Yuriy Vernydub fell on the referee, then Grigory Kozlovsky ignores the air raid alert. How do these stories affect your mood for the championship? Is there an understanding that everything will not be as usual, even taking into account the Rukh match? — "Metalist", which lasted 4.5 hours?
- Yes, this championship, in principle, will not be the same as usual. Everyone was aware of this when they made the decision to start it. It is clear that there will be more than one scandal, and there will be problems, because this is the first time you are faced with such circumstances.
But I think it's a big deal to start the championship now. By this we will show that Ukraine is able to live normally even in such conditions.
— Your main competitor, Shakhtar, has a new head coach. Will it be easier or harder for you to resist them now?
“Now is the time when such global confrontations, such acuteness as it used to be, are fading into the background. Now this will not happen.
If earlier there were 90% of foreigners, now it will be our guys with whom you share the locker room in the national team. I don't think there will be any conflicts. I don’t know if it will be harder or easier, we will see during the championship.
— You wrote a post on Instagram about unnecessary emotions that sometimes hurt on the field. What inspired you to do this?
— I communicate with a person who helps me in media matters. And so he tells me that an athlete should live not only a real life, but also a virtual one.
You should be as open as possible and tell people about your experiences and thoughts. For these reasons, I wrote this post.
Daniil Vereitin
