Today, on 6 August, the Dynamo Stadium named after V. Lobanovsky was packed to the brim with fans. The long-awaited event for Dynamo fans took place here - an autograph session of their idol Andriy Yarmolenko, who recently returned to our club.
Despite the hot weather, about 1000 fans of different ages, genders, professions and occupations came to talk to the footballer, and the queue to the conference hall stretched right into the street. And this is not surprising, because due to the Covid pandemic and the war, which prevented spectators from attending matches, everyone missed the events with the participation of our footballers, especially Andriy Yarmolenko, who played abroad for several years.
But the attendees were rewarded in full, as Andriy paid attention to everyone, communicated with them in a friendly manner, signed autographs and took pictures, as he also enjoyed meeting Dynamo fans. Some people asked him to record a video message to the soldiers who are defending our country at the frontline, and he gladly did so.
- "My friend Viktor sent me a link to a post on Instagram about Andriy Yarmolenko's autograph session, and as I am a Dynamo fan, I immediately decided that I would come," said fan Anton. "I am here with a friend, for the company, I really like Andriy, he is a very cool footballer. I was very happy when I found out that he had returned to Dynamo, in fact, I think the whole of Ukraine was happy.
I'm pleased to have received an autograph, it was nice to sit next to my favourite footballer for the first time, so my heart is jumping out (smiles). I also took photos and videos, everything is great. I bought a Ukrainian flag especially for today's event, and Yarmolenko signed it. Now I will hang it at home, let it be for future generations.
What are your expectations for the season? We will tear everyone apart. Everything will be Ukraine.
- Our whole family are Dynamo fans," said another participant of the event, Oleksandr Sharovarko, grandson of the famous Ukrainian film director Boris Sharovarko. "It's a great opportunity to see Andriy Yarmolenko so close, especially after his return. I've been fond of football since I was a kid, I play goalkeeper myself. I started supporting Dynamo around 2014-2015, when we played Everton.
I had to stand in a long queue, but it was worth it. I am sure that for many people this is a dream not only of childhood, but of their whole life. Andriy autographed a Dynamo shirt with my name on it, as well as photos with his image. This is an incredible, cool event, and it is especially important nowadays! Many thanks to FC Dynamo Kyiv from our whole family. Together to victory!
The hero of the occasion also shared his emotions and impressions of the meeting.
- "Of course, I missed the Dynamo fans," Andriy Yarmolenko said in a comment to the club's media, "It was a huge surprise for me that I saw probably more than a thousand people when I arrived at the stadium. It was very nice for me that people remember me, they want to take a picture with me, just to chat. I tried to allocate time for each of them. I hope they enjoyed this meeting, because I personally have a lot of positive emotions from this meeting.
The fans did not want anything in particular - we just had a normal conversation. They asked me various questions about what they were most interested in, and I tried to answer them all. There were both football and non-football questions. For example, one guy said that I hadn't aged at all over the years because he had a photo of me taken ten years ago. Another, on the contrary, came up to me and said: "Damn, you've aged" (smiles).
The meeting was positive, I liked it. I signed about a thousand autographs, and while my arm feels fine, we'll see what happens tomorrow (laughs). Even if it is crepitus, it's not a big deal, the main thing is that people get positive emotions in such a difficult time as our country is going through. If I managed to cheer them up, it means I have fulfilled my mission.
I was also asked to record a video for our military, and I did it with ease, because they are our heroes, our stars, and every day we have to thank them for protecting us and our families.