Matvii Ponomarenko: "There is some excitement, but I think I can stay in the Dynamo first team

The young striker Matvey Ponomarenko passed a medical examination with Dynamo's first team and shared his expectations for the upcoming training camp.

Matvey Ponomarenko. Photo - fcdynamo.com

- Today you are undergoing a medical examination with the first team. Is it different from what it was in the U-19?

- In principle, no - the same doctors and procedures.

- Do you have any health complaints? Or maybe some indicators are such that even doctors praise you?

- Nobody praises me. Basically, I passed everything I had to pass. I think everything is fine.

- How did you spend your holiday in general?

- I spent the holidays with my parents, sometimes my sister came to visit us, and I celebrated Christmas and New Year with them. I spent two weeks fully relaxing, and then the programme I was working on was cancelled. I also went to the gym to get in shape before the training camp.

- What was the programme, what kind of exercises did you do?

- There was running work, as well as training in the gym.

- Where did you do your running work?

- On the street. Wasn't it cold? No, I got used to it(smiles).

- Did you come to the base to train in the gym?

- Yes, the coaches wrote to us that we could come and train under the programme at any time.

- When were you informed that you were going to the training camp with the first team?

- During my holiday, they wrote that I was going. Of course, there is some excitement, but I believe that I can stay in the first team and I will do everything I can to achieve this.

- Last winter, you also worked with the first team. Will that experience help you?

- I think so. I already know the requirements, what I need to do, and at this training camp I will try to show my best.

- Usually, control matches at training camps are used to get in shape. But will this be an opportunity for you to prove yourself?

- Of course, for young players, every match is a motivation to prove themselves when given a chance. Especially at the training camp, I think the coaches look at young players, those who are on trial, and if they prove themselves, they keep them in the team.

- Did you watch the opponents at the training camp, maybe analyse them?

- I saw who we were going to play, but I didn't analyse anything.