Former Dynamo Kyiv defender Josip Pivaric retired from professional football at the age of 34. In recent years, the Croatian defender played out his last years at Lokomotiv Zagreb. Health problems did not allow Josip to continue playing, although at the level of a Croatian midfielder.
Pivaric did not leave much of a mark on the history of Dynamo Kyiv. After the failure in the 2017 Ukrainian Super Cup match, the then new Dynamo coach Oleksandr Hatskevych was disappointed with the team's main left back, Vitorino Antunes. The Portuguese was released, and Pivarvic was brought in from Dinamo Zagreb to take his place. In his debut match against Kamianska Stal, the Croatian's head was broken, and a very young Vitalii Mykolenko, who would become the main left-back for the next 5 years, took to the field. When Mircea Lucescu came to the team, Pivaric was quickly dismissed.
Pivaric's career did not work out because of injuries. He moved to Kyiv after suffering an ACL injury. Kyiv had its own medical history. Perhaps, having such a status competitor, Mykolenko was able to break into the first team. Vitaliy was motivated to prove that he was as good as him.
In fact, Pivaric brought a lot of benefits to Dynamo. First of all, in terms of image. The name of the team from the capital of Ukraine was heard at the highest level in terms of national teams. At the 2018 World Cup, you know where Joseph reached the final with the Croatian national team. He became the first player in the history of Dynamo Kyiv to win silver medals at the World Cup. Although Yosyp did not reach the final, he played quite actively during the tournament. He was a rotation player. Domagoj Vida also played in the same Croatian national team, but he was already playing in Turkey.
Perhaps after the World Cup was the best time to sell Pivaric. The player had the prefix of world vice-champion. It's good to be smart in the past tense. As it happened, so it happened. Despite his not-so-successful performances in Ukraine, Pivarvich wrote his name in the history of Dynamo. I really hope that sooner or later, someone will be able to surpass this achievement and win the most prestigious national team tournament.
Serhii Tyshchenko