"After the match with Barcelona, ​​my father cried": Pavlo Shkapenko's last big interview

On April 17, 2023, it became known about the death of Pavel Shkapenko... He played for Dynamo Kyiv for six seasons. Scored for "Barcelona". But it seems that he was not able to reveal his full potential. A few years ago, in a frank manly conversation with Maxim Rozenko, Shkapenko told how he fished with Rebrov on the lake, who blocked his transfer to the English "Sunderland" and what Luzhny told his partners during training. This was the last major interview given by the former player of the Ukrainian national team.

The first salary in Dynamo is $600

— Pavel, was the invitation to Dynamo unexpected for you?

- Yes and no. In 1992, as part of the youth national team of Ukraine, we went to the tournament in Holland. It's hard to explain now, but at that time our team played under the Dynamo Kyiv brand. The famous selector of the first team Anatoliy Suchkov was also part of the delegation. We did well in the Tulip Country, I scored a few goals. And at the banquet after the tournament, there was a conversation that Ferencvaros was interested in me. But in the end, instead of Budapest, I ended up in Kyiv - Suchkov together with Mykhailo Oshemkov came to Zaporizhzhia to pick me up.

— Did you agree right away?

— I went to the negotiations together with my father. He worked as a pharmacy manager. At first we were offered to wait in the corridor - Metalurg's management discussed the nuances of the transition with Suchkov and Oshemkov. Metalurg veterans Yury Sivukha and Ihor Nakonechny visited the office with their questions. They asked what I, a salabon, was doing here. I spread my hands: "We invite you to Dynamo." And I don't want to leave Zaporizhzhia." Igor looked surprised and said: "You always have time to return to Metalurg, but Dynamo happens once in a lifetime, and not everyone does." Go and don't even think!".

— And you decided to listen to his opinion?

- Not immediately. The fact is that "Metalurg" did not want to part with me. The president of the club was Rozenko. We went with my father to the office, he says that, given the circumstances, I am offered a new, improved contract. And they give two "Tavria"! Two "Tavrias"! At that time, it was space for a young kid. Rozenko concluded: "Stay, son!". I'm even a little confused. Unlike dad, who calmly summarized: "Now let's listen to Dynamo's offer."

— And what conditions did Oshemkov announce?

- Salary - $600 per month, a Mercedes is given for official use. I have been playing for Dynamo for three years and they are making it my property. Like, now it's your turn. The difference in conditions was, of course, enormous. Oshemkov was probably surprised by my answer: "In general, I dreamed of playing for Dnipro, but if you call Dynamo, I will go to Kyiv." The fact is that the matches between "Metalurg" and "Dnipro" were of a very principled nature at that time, "Dnipro" in the 80s thundered the whole Union, and I sincerely wanted to play for the Dnipro people.

— You came to Dynamo almost at the same time as Rebrov. Have you become friends?

- Of course. We were accommodated in the same room - initially in the "Tourist" hotel. They supported each other. I pulled an anterior muscle, which was my first injury treated with injections. On the 22nd-23rd day, injections are given in the muscle - this was a novelty. When he was injured, his mood worsened, thoughts arose of returning to Zaporizhzhia. Serhiy supported me morally. Then everything got better for me, in the first official game I went to the second half with "Dnipro" with the score 1: 1. Shmatovalenko scored the winning goal for "Dnipro" from a pass, which I dreamed of playing all my childhood! Soon he received an invitation to the national team of Ukraine - he made his debut in an away match against Poland.

And Sergey began to have problems with his knee - cartilage needed to be built up. The question was how the cartilage would grow, whether he would continue to play at all. Rebrov was very worried. For a couple of months, he could not put any weight on his knee. By that time, we had already been moved to the "Ukraine" hotel. I already supported him. As a result, everything worked out for Serhiy as well.

— Did you go fishing with Rebrov?

— There is a story connected with fishing. The singles then visited the base two days before the game. For example, if the match is on Saturday, the home match is on Thursday. It was necessary to somehow pass the time. We bought fishing rods, went to the lake in the evening. The legendary Trochymivna, whom Shcherbytsky still kissed on the cheek, wrapped several sandwiches for us. And here we are sitting by the lake, fishing. The girls came up - quite young. It turned out to be gymnasts from the Olympic base. Sitting next to us, we began to ask them about gymnastics. I see, they are eating sandwiches. We offered them a snack. At first they refused. Like, we can't. Then they attacked greedily. They said that they have weighing at every training session and fines for 100 extra grams of weight. They go hungry all the time. It got to the point that they hid bread crusts in the drain tank so that the coaches would not find them. They ate them at night. Sergey and I were amazed.

— And who from Dynamo impressed on the field with their strictness?

— Alkaline. I remember his running in training. At that time, Oleksiy Gerasimenko had already appeared in Dynamo. He receives the ball, Oleg runs and shouts "I'm running". Oleksiy punched once, gave the second to the center. Luzhnyi, when he was returning from the second run, passing by Gerasimenko, threatened: "Don't give up one more time, I'll tear your caddy off." At the same time, immediately after the game, Luzhnyi immediately cooled down.

A jacket in a pawn shop

— Do you remember the story with your crimson jacket?

— I don't even know if I should mention her. However, what is there. Somehow Józef Szabo did not take Lithuanian "Dynamo" legionnaires Valdas Martinkenas and Igor Pankratiev to Germany for a training session - he left them in Kyiv with the second team. After collecting, I return to see my signature crimson jacket for sale at the currency exchange kiosk in the hotel lobby. Remember when crimson jackets were all the rage in the early 90s? I recognize my thing, I can't understand anything. Martinkenas approaches with a guilty expression on his face. He says: "Pasha, I'm sorry, we ran out of money, we pawned your jacket." Buy it yourself, when we get paid, we'll give it back." It turned out that the guys took the keys from the guard, said that they wanted to watch video tapes - there was a VCR in my room. Well, they took this crimson jacket. Valdas was generally a good man. Serious. I remembered that even Sabo and Martinkenas did not risk getting into a verbal altercation. At the debriefing, Jozef Jozefovich will say something to Valdas, who will start to deny the answer. Sabo refused.

— Who cheered at Dynamo?

— Kormiltsev. Both in "Dynamo" and after. During the vacation in December, we always gathered in the CSKA hall in Kyiv. Played, kept in shape. A traditional banquet before the New Year. Sergey was supposed to fly from Moscow. Was late Finally, he runs into the banquet hall, throws off his outer clothes. On his neck hangs two medals of the champion of Ukraine. Serhii started ringing them. He says that in Dynamo he mostly ran around the field, but he received two gold medals and won two national cups.

Jishkariani's confrontations with Topchiev at training sessions were also remembered. The exercise was called holding the ball. Mykhailo is sharp, small, thin, carried by the wind. Dmytro is overall, tractive, long. The fast Georgian could not keep up with the movements. Zopalu began to beat him in tackles. Once he gave it, he fell over and almost killed himself. Then more. And more. After the third time, Dzishkariani grabbed the ball in his hands and gave it to Topchieva with an emotional speech: "Come on, take this ball, just don't break my leg anymore."

— Your most memorable game for Dynamo is the victory over Barcelona?

— The episode after her was the most memorable. Although the match seemed bright - he scored a goal in the fifth minute. The stadium fell silent for a moment - the fans themselves could not believe in such happiness. Then it exploded. When I earned a penalty, there was something incredible in the stands. In the end, they won 3:1. My father came to me from Zaporozhye. After the match, we got into the car, we had to go to the base to take our things. We are going, suddenly I hear sobbing. When I return, I am surprised to see tears in my father's eyes. "Dad, what are you doing?" - I ask. “This is from happiness! I'm proud of you, son!" - the father answers through tears.

— After the winning match with Barcelona, ​​you did not exchange shirts with anyone because of the shortage of the latter. When did Dynamo allow this gesture of goodwill?

— Already under Lobanovskyi. Before that, opponents often offered to exchange shirts in European Cups after matches. But we could give away the shirt only in the last game of the season. Therefore, they were forced to shake their heads negatively, remembering the administrator's instruction to "protect ammunition." Opponents were surprised. But already during the time of Valery Vasyliovych, everything returned to normal.

— Is it true that for the victory over "Bavaria" in the group tournament of the Champions League in December 1994, the management of "Dynamo" promised the players $40,000 in bonuses each?

— Bonuses for winning the Champions League group tournament were, if I'm not mistaken, $3,000 each. But for exiting the group, the bonuses already inspired respect. And before the match with Bayern, we had such a situation that a victory over the Germans with a difference of two or more goals took us to the next round of the tournament. But then we were not destined to receive premiums - young Sheva scored a goal, "Bayern" responded with four.

6 thousand pounds per week

— In 1996, you went to the British "Sunderland" for an inspection. Why did the transition fail?

- Already had time to discuss the terms of a personal contract - was supposed to receive 6 thousand pounds per week. Let me remind you that in England the salary is paid every week. But the transition was prevented by two reasons. Firstly, the clubs could not agree on my transfer fee. But the main one, in my opinion, was the second reason. By that time, Lobanovskyi had already arrived in Kyiv and was preparing to receive the team. Allegedly, he told the management of the Shkapenko club not to sell.

— When Henrik Larsson broke his leg, and it became clear that he would not have time to recover before the end of his contract, Barcelona specifically extended his contract. Have you encountered such a relationship in the clubs you played for?

— At Dynamo, I had a very complicated injury: part of the thigh muscle was removed, and a transplant was inserted instead. Missed about four months. The operation was performed in France, the surgeon did not promise that I would be able to play football again. It was under Lobanovskyi, the team was gaining momentum, then they lost to Juventus in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. In that difficult moment, Valery Vasyliovych and the club management supported me. Believe it or not, I was even paid bonuses for playing in the Champions League! They said it recovers faster. Everyone waited, hoped, helped with advice and kind words.

— But in the end, with an active playing career, you finished at 31 years old.

— At first he dislocated his collarbone, then tore his cruciate ligaments. Five bolts inserted! He recovered his knee, and his shoulder failed. There is no struggle on the field. And with any fall, I felt that my collarbone was about to pop out. Already playing for Kuban, I decided that at my age, injuries would be enough. He worked as a children's coach at a school. He released the boys. I don't want to recruit 7-8 year olds again. Faced with an approach when there is nowhere to train, nothing to buy balls for. It is necessary to collect money from parents to rent a field. Now I want to gain experience in working with adult teams.

Maxim ROZENKO