The head coach of FC Kudrivka Serhii Datsenko spoke about his move to Dynamo Kyiv during his career as a footballer.
- You started playing football in Chernihiv.
- Yes, I was a pupil of the famous Yunist school in Chernihiv. Then I moved to Desna, when I was 16-17 years old. Andrii Protsko was the head coach of the Chernihiv team at the time, and Zhylin helped him. They invited me to a viewing, after which I signed my first professional contract.
- You played for Desna for about two years and then moved to Dynamo. How did you manage to do that?
- When I turned 18 in December, I was already congratulated on my birthday by Volodymyr Onyshchenko at the Dynamo Stadium. At that time, he was the head coach of the reserve team of the Kyiv team. Back then, this team, Dynamo-2, played in the First League.
At that time, we were repeated champions of the First League, but promotion was impossible because the main Dynamo team was in the top league, the regulations did not allow it.
Let me get back to talking about Desna. I got into the Chernihiv team, then I was called up to the U-18 national team for qualifying matches. I played in the main team, I was a striker. I was noticed and invited to Dynamo Kyiv.
- You moved to the top club in Ukraine, of course, and your earnings became different.
- I don't remember if I was very happy about the salary, but I remember the first meeting with Hryhoriy Surkis. He asked me: "Do you want to play for Dynamo?". It was a childhood dream of mine to play for Dynamo, I followed the team, I was a fan, many players played for the national team, then I saw many of them when I played for Dynamo-2, so of course I told Surkis that I wanted to play here.
I didn't think about money at the time. Of course, money is important, but at that time it was not in the first place for me. No matter how old you are and where you play, you always have to think about moving forward, progressing, thinking about whether you will play better. If you set a goal to earn more, it may not always be the right choice.
At that time, Dynamo was two or even three steps forward for me. To put it simply, whatever money was offered to me then, I would have played for it.
- A lot of talented players played for Dynamo-2. Who do you remember the most?
- I'll tell you about those I remember the most. These are Bohdan Yesyp, Valentyn Slyusar, Oleh Venglynskyi, and Taras Lutsenko.
Andriy Gusin? When I arrived, he was on loan at CSKA Kyiv. He played centre forward for them, and when Valerii Lobanovskyi returned, he turned him into an amazing holding midfielder.
There was also Alexander Sobkovich, a lot of other talented guys. I can't name all of them, I don't want to offend anyone, but all the players who played for Dynamo-2 later joined Dynamo's main squad, while others went on loan or signed full contracts with top-flight clubs.
- But you need to understand that many players did not develop for various reasons. For example, Sergei Bogatyrev was a very talented footballer, but he ended his career early due to injuries.
- Yes, Bogatyrev had talent. Injuries in football have a certain weight in your career. For example, Andriy Yarmolenko is a very talented, strong footballer and has proved with his play that he is a top player. There were moments in his career when he was injured, but Dynamo believed in him and gave him a chance, which he took. It's a lot of work for both him and the coaches. You need to look at young players and give them a chance.
Coming back to Bohatyrev, I remember him, he had an injury the same as mine. Lobanovskyi also had plans for me, but I got a very nasty injury - a torn quadriceps and I took a long time to recover. When a young footballer is given time, it is very little.
I didn't have that time, so I had to show what I could do right away, but an injured player can't show everything he can do.
- Was the medical care different?
- I'll say that the medicine at Dynamo was at the top level, because the team was constantly playing in the Champions League. The base was new, the doctors were very professional. The legendary doctor Volodymyr Malyuta put me back on my feet. After this injury, I thought I might end my career. I was not even able to run at full strength.
I had unpleasant sensations during training. It was a scar that formed at the site of the tear, but Malyuta helped me recover and continue playing football. Malyuta has helped many players get back on their feet.
- Did you ever meet the legendary Viktor Leonenko at Dynamo?
- Of course, we did. He was always cheerful - on the field, off the field, and on television. He always had and has his own opinion, which he expresses.
Viktor was a very strong footballer. You don't have to go far to see his match against Spartak Moscow (3-2) in the Champions League, where he scored two goals. At that time, he was number one.
- You have mentioned the name of the legendary Valerii Lobanovskyi several times. Did you ever have a conversation with him?
- I had one or two conversations with Valerii Vasylovych. At that time, Dynamo were playing a winter tournament amongst themselves - they had formed a first team and a second team. I returned from a loan spell with Kryvbas and we had a short conversation. He asked me if I was ready to work and if I had any desire. It was out of the question to answer anything other than that I wanted to and would do everything.
- Then you moved to Metalurh Donetsk. I guess Onishchenko, who knew you from Dynamo-2, invited you.
- Yes, he did. I played for Dynamo-2 for about a year and a half, even played one game for the Dynamo first team when Jozsef Szabo was the coach. Lobanovskyi was still abroad. I came out in the first team along with Oleh Luzhnyi, Viktor Leonenko, Serhii Shmatovalenko and others.
Vitalii Kosovskyi was injured and I was called up to Dynamo to play on the left flank of the midfield. Then I travelled with Dynamo-2 to Zakarpattia and there I got an ankle ligament tear and was out for about a month. It was an unfortunate injury that prevented me from getting a hold of the base.
- And then you moved to Donetsk.
- Volodymyr Ivanovych Onyshchenko received an offer from Metalurh Donetsk, which had been promoted from the first league to the top flight, and several players, including me, went to watch. As a result, I stayed and signed a one-year loan agreement.
From the Donetsk team, I got into the youth national team of Ukraine, which was then coached by Viktor Kolotov.
- Your next stop was Kryvbas.
- I returned to Dynamo and received an offer from Kryvbas. I was asked if I was okay with it. I replied that I agreed, that I wanted to try it, and Kryvbas and I became bronze medallists in the Ukrainian championship. The head coach was Oleh Taran, with Gennadiy Lytovchenko as his assistant.
- At that time, there was a football boom in Kryvyi Rih.
- I think something similar will happen in Kryvyi Rih now. "Kryvbas is a very good and promising team. I will say that they lost a lot of time when they did not play among professionals, they had some moments and some reasons, but now we see the formation of the club and the team. This team should play in the UPL.
- Then there was Russia. Was it also a loan?
- No. I came back from Kryvbas to Dynamo, when Lobanovskyi was already in charge of the Kyiv team, but I got that unfortunate injury. I stayed there for six months, after which I received two offers after my recovery. The first one was from Torpedo Moscow, and the second was from Rostsilmash from Rostov-on-Don.
In the end, we agreed on a six-month lease with Rostselmash. At that time, I also chose this club, and I don't regret playing in that team.
- A lot of Ukrainians played there back then.
- Yes, there were. Ilya Blyznyuk was the goalkeeper, there were also Volodymyr Mykytyn, Yurii Maksymov, Vladyslav Prudius, Volodymyr Savchenko, Anatolii Bezsmertnyi, with whom I played for Dynamo-2 on the right wing.
I played there for six months, after which the clubs agreed that Dynamo would let me go. It was my first full contract after the Kyiv club.
- You finished your career in Ukraine.
- I spent five years at Rostselmash, then a year at Terek, although I hardly played there. I had a lower back injury that hampered me.
After unsuccessful attempts to stay at Zorya and CSKA Kyiv, I returned to Desna. We talked to the club president and the mayor of Chernihiv. We agreed on almost everything, but in the end it didn't work out. I don't remember the details of that situation anymore. There was some small conflict with Desna's head coach Oleksandr Tomakh, we didn't understand each other, and it turned out that I didn't stay, although I really wanted to finish my career at this club.
Then I played at the amateur level, it was the regional championship, it was the championship among amateurs. At that time, my team was Avangard from Koryukivka.
Pavlo Klymenko