Dmytro Kovalenko, a pupil of Dynamo Kyiv academy, moved to the USA as a schoolboy. The Ukrainian midfielder became an MLS star, won the championship (2000) and cup (2004), and participated in the All-Star Game three times (2001, 2002, 2004). Kovalenko spoke about his eleven seasons in the USA, the development of local football, two World Cups and gave advice to Serhiy Kryvtsov on how to play on the pitch with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.
- Dima, you've been in the US since 1992. You played from 1999 to 2010. Is there an explosion of interest in soccer in the US now?
- Football has grown a lot. There will be 30 teams in the MLS league. When I started in 1999, there were only 12 teams. The money's different now. The 2026 World Cup will be for three countries - USA, Mexico and Canada. Messi has helped a lot, there is a huge excitement about his arrival.
- Can you compare it to what happened in 2007 when David Beckham came to the USA? You then played together in 2009-2010 with the LA Galaxy. Same explosion of interest?
- It's a little bit different. David is very strong and famous. But it's hard to compare him to Messi. Miami is already sold out for the year. And all the tickets for Inter's away games in Miami are sold out. They're making a lot of money.
Messi is already 36, but I think he will be enough for one or two more seasons. He is respected, he is not touched on the pitch, the ball is not taken away harshly. He will still be playing in this league.
- Again, when else has a current MLS player won the Ballon d'Or?
- I love Messi a lot, but I will say, he didn't deserve the ZM for 2023. He won the World Cup in 2022. And he didn't have any significant wins in 2023.
- This is far from the first big star in MLS. Who, apart from Backes, have you been lucky enough to play with?
- In the US they like to bring in stars at the end of their careers. My first teammate was Bulgarian Hristo Stoichkov, we played for Chicago Fire in 2000-2002. Then we were sent together to D.C. United (Washington, D.C.). In 1994 he was one of the stars of the World Championship, which was held in the USA. Hristo won the Golden Ball in 1994. I held his ball in my hands.
- Was it easy to communicate with Stoichkov? He's a world star after all.
- Not at first. But then we became very close. And now we're in touch. As a man, he's golden, very kind. But he's not easy. He didn't let everyone get close to him.
Hristo became the top scorer of the World Cup-1994. As well as Oleg Salenko. Hristo was so indignant: "How is it so, five goals in one match?". (Oleh Salenko, a striker of Kyiv Dynamo 1989 - 1992 and the Ukrainian national team, played in 1994 for the Russian national team at the World Cup, where he scored five goals against Cameroon - A.T. note).
Stoichkov then invited me to play in his farewell match in 2014 at the Nou Camp in Barcelona, it was very nice. The world team and Barcelona's team of stars played. So many football celebrities of the world came to this game! 47 thousand spectators, the president of Spain, the president of Bulgaria, Pavarotti sang before the match. Maradona was supposed to come, but he didn't.
It was the second such match in my life. In 1989, as a kid I served balls at Blokhin's farewell match. After the game Vladimir Bessonov gave me his shirt, it is in my collection. Oh, how much I had to run after him, but it was worth it:-)
- How did you end up in Beckham's team?
- I was called by coach Bruce Arena (five-time MLS winner, with the U.S. national team won the CONCACAF Cup three times - A.T. note). We worked for the New York Red Bulls, in 2008 he went to the LA Galaxy, and the next year he called me.
- Is Beckham easy to communicate with?
- He's a good man, no star sickness. He's a good dad. He treated everyone in the locker room all right. Although the difference in salaries was cosmic. Apart from him, Landon Donovan was good. (157 matches and 57 goals for the U.S. national team, the best scorer (144) and assistant (136) in the history of MLS, - note A. T.). Donovan's salary was two and a half million. Most have 300-400 thousand. Beckham's was ten million. 50 million over five years, not counting sponsorship contracts. But the wages are even higher now.
- How did you get along on the pitch?
- David was a free artist: he played wherever he wanted. I was always under him. He played as a centre-back, he took and gave, you don't need to invent anything.
- As they say, someone carries the piano and someone plays, was it like that?
- You're absolutely right. There were "soldiers" and two or three who create the weather. Now football has changed, 90 per cent are both attacking and defending.
- Beckham owns Inter Miami?
- Co-owner, I don't know exactly what percentage. He makes a lot of decisions. Messi persuaded him, David's the man to do it. It took him over a year. Messi was given money, I'm sure not much less than in Saudi Arabia, where he was invited.
- Did Miami play better?
- Yes, but they still didn't make the playoffs. When Messi arrived, Inter were already about 12 points behind. Nine games to go, we didn't make it. But we won the MLS Cup.
- How does Serhiy Krivtsov look in the team with Messi?
- He is a strong footballer. He plays with experience. I watched his games, he played well. You can feel the level, he played for Shakhtar, for the national team and in the Champions League. I see that now it is already hard for him to play for the national team. He is very good for MLS. He is thinking, with a head, good technique. He plays at the back, he doesn't need super-speed. Reads the game very well. He takes it and gives it back. Somewhere he doesn't have time, he's 32 years old. There are young 17-18 year olds, powerful, running. But they are inferior to him precisely because of Sergei's experience. Krivtsov is fine, I think he will play here for a couple or three more seasons.
They also signed Luis Suarez, who had a very strong season in Brazil. He is also experienced. Busquets and Jordi Alba are already in the team. There are a lot of youngsters in the team - Inter are working for the future in this respect, as well as other MLS clubs.
- Has this landing of stars affected Kryvtsov's place? Is he still in the centre?
- Yes, everything is fine, he looks very confident. He scored a goal, gave an assist. He has a contract - two plus one, I think. Next season for sure he will be. I think, he can work the contract till the end.
- What is Krivtsov's salary?
- In the USA all salaries are open. Krivtsov has about 450 - 500 thousand dollars. I do not know the details, before taxes, after taxes.... The club pays for housing, or the player himself. For 32 years old is normal.
- Do legionaries pay taxes in their countries?
- Here Krivtsov definitely pays taxes. It's different for everyone. If you have a family, you pay less. But in the USA not paying taxes is the worst crime.
- How much did you get?
- My first contract was very modest, $24,000 a year in 1999. Now 2,000 a month is no money at all, nobody would even believe it. Then every year we raised it. In the best years it was $220,000 to $250,000 a year. But there were also bonuses. It was also important that I made it to the All-Star Game three times, and they raised my salary after that. The money I was getting, only the players of their national teams were getting. Now it would be a different kind of money.
- Ukrainian Yevhen Cheberko won the MLS championship this year as a member of Columbus Crew. What do you think about him?
- I knew that Columbus has a Ukrainian defenceman, left-handed. But he plays very little, you know, you don't hear much about him. He's like 25 years old, I hope he'll play some more.
- Our midfielder Denis Kostyshyn played in the second division of the USL. Was he noticeable?
- If he was noticeable, he would have been invited to MLS. And if he wasn`t invited to 26, then probably he won`t be invited. Many clubs rely on youngsters - 17-18 years old.
- You've been in the USA since 1992. Did you feel an increase in interest after the 1994 World Cup?
- Of course. In the USA many stadiums are much bigger than in Europe. Well, in Europe, clubs have 30-40 thousand fans. In the U.S., for American football, it's 80,000 to 100,000. And they started to fill up for soccer after the World Cup.
Now, after Messi's arrival, it's the same thing. All Miami games are subscription-only on Apple TV. It's gonna make a lot of money. Subscriptions are gonna be bought all over the world. There's a lot of new sponsors. It's a very good thing for the league. David, of course, good for bringing him in. Even I, you know, all the games with Messi I want to watch.
- How has the attendance changed, the cost of tickets?
- When Inter came to Chicago, Messi didn't play because of an injury. But Chicago Fire made as much money on tickets for that one match as they did for the whole season. 60,000 tickets sold for $12 million. And Messi didn't even come to the game. And the attendance was 5-10 thousand fans.
Before Messi arrived, tickets were $27. For a game with his team, the cost was up to $2,000 - $3,000.
Boxes, it's like closed boxes in the stadium, offered $20,000 for one game. But you can get any number of fans in there, even 50 people.
Such a pair of rivals as Messi and Cristiano, who have been competing with each other for fifteen years, may no longer exist in world history.
- Would you like to play against them?
- I've been lucky in my life: my clubs - LA Galaxy and others - often played exhibition and friendly matches when European clubs came to the US. I played twice against Real Madrid with Cristiano. There was a match against Barcelona with Messi. Against Barcelona with Ronaldinho I played twice. And against Barcelona I played against Rivaldo. I'm only talking about the opponents who won the Ballon d'Or.
- In 2026, the United States, Canada and Mexico will host the World Cup. Do the U.S. need to build new stadiums?
- No, there are stadiums for American football and football. But some arenas need to be rebuilt for the World Cup. Alas, in Chicago, where I live, the municipality decided not to spend money on this. Chicago, one of the largest cities in the United States, will be without a World Cup.
- Now a simple Zaporozhye guy Krivtsov is playing with Messi, Busquets, Alba, and Suarez is coming up. From your experience, Dima, how to play in a team with a superstar like Beckham or Messi?
- You play as you played. And you learn all the time. To be on the pitch with someone like that, it's a great man. You have to be yourself, go out, try, play with full commitment. And give him the ball when he needs it. Listen to what he says. That's all you can do.
I was told by the coach to take it away, give it to Beckham or Donovan. Hristo Stoichkov too, try not to give the ball where it needs to go, he starts yelling, screaming. He pats him from head to toe. He's used to the way he's treated. But it's a huge school, learnt a lot from him.
- In "Miami" they gather as if the Barcelona, which in 2008-2012 was coached by Guardiola. Did Stoichkov say which Barça is stronger, the one he played (1990 - 1995, 1996 - 1998) with Guardiola, or the one Pep worked with?
- There were no conversations about that. But Christo, I'm sure, would say that the strongest Barcelona was when he played there.
- What are you doing now?
- I've been working in Chicago as a children's coach for three years now. From 13 years old and up. A lot of Ukrainians came to Chicago after the war started. Now I got about 85% of my kids are Ukrainians.
- Do you tell your kids that you played with Beckham?
- Yes, of course, they are interested. And it increases their authority. They also ask how to play with such a partner. I say you play, that's all. You try, you give it your best.
- Dima, you've been in the U.S. since the '90s. You live in Chicago. Is the cult of Michael Jordan still alive in this city?
- When I played in Washington, he was playing there too, finishing up. I got a ticket near the ring, about $800 in 2003. And it wasn't the most expensive. I sat very close to Michael himself. Half a metre, no more, I could touch him with my hand if I wanted to. The ticket from that game is also in my collection.
Jordan, I think, is the greatest basketball player in history. Like Messi in football. At Chicago, where he had his best seasons, you could certainly feel the respect and reverence for him.
Imagine the difference, a basketball arena has 16,000 spectators and a football arena has 80,000. Huge money will be made in the US on Messi.
- You've been in the US since 1992?
- Yes, in January it will be 32 years since I've been in America. In 1994 I already played for the university. I was interviewed by a local publication, asking who I would like to play with in the attack. I was still a forward then. I said - with Hristo Stoichkov. Look, that's what happened! And then in 1999 he comes into the locker room, imagine! I was blown away. We became very good friends after that.
- How did you come to the US?
- In 1991 we went to the USA with Dynamo, I was 14 years old. I lived with my family. Then we came again, settled in the same families. And an American family offered me to stay. Three months later I made a student visa. And thus, from my year 1977 in Dynamo nine people went to the USA.
- Did anyone else play in the local football?
- Lesha Korol played a little in MLS and Yura Lavrinenko. That's all. The rest of the guys did not stay in football. Someone because of injuries finished early, that's football.
- Is football growing steadily in the US?
- In 1994 I started playing for university, there wasn't even a professional league in the USA yet. It wasn't until 1996 that MLS came along. In 1999 I was drafted and played for Chicago Fire.
In the U.S., they weren't sure the league would even happen. In the '70s, the league was launched for the first time. Back then, the "king of football" and three-time world champion Pele played for the New York Cosmos. But the league failed. The audience didn't go. But the MLS did. Now it is probably in the top ten leagues in the world.
- Did you try to play in Europe?
- Yes, in 2002 I played five matches in the Bundesliga for St. Pauli. Immediately I got to Bayern, Bayer and Borussia Dortmund. Alas, the character showed the wrong time, I have never been restrained. I got into a fight with the team captain and for five minutes cancelled all my plans for Europe. And I was 26 years old, in my prime. So I berate myself for that (we didn't include in the interview the words Dmitriy uses to berate himself for the incident at St. Pauli - A.T.'s note).
I came back to the USA and played here for another eight years. I didn't have the chance to play at the level of notable championships, but fate gave me the opportunity to meet on the field with the main stars of world football of my time.
Anton TEREKHOV