Volodymyr Bondarenko, head coach of Shturm from Ivankiv (Kyiv Oblast), explained where his team's ageing players, such as Yevhen Khacheridi, Oleksiy Dityatiev and others, find motivation.
"I am very pleased to work with such guys. It's not an easy job, because I have great football authorities in front of me, but it's very interesting because they each have enough football brains, thinking and understanding for several starts. Of course, I won't hide the fact that these players, despite their veteran age, are simply not tired and love the game too much.
Well, they are attracted to Shturm because of its good team, team spirit and ambitious goals. For this, I would like to thank our playing presidents Dmytro Dymnych and Ihor Nakonechnyi.
Are there any difficulties? The higher the level of a footballer, the more he listens to the words of the coaches, understands the chain of command and team tasks. Another thing is that age imposes its own peculiarities. For example, Khacheridi is less comfortable playing on artificial turf due to medical reasons. Some of the other veterans are busy on certain days of the week. Some are plagued by chronic injuries. But the advantages that players of this class provide are more important than these circumstances, where we will undoubtedly meet the guys halfway," Bondarenko was quoted as saying by Ukrainian Football.
Звичайно , ветерани та збиті на цьому рівні ще із задоволенням пограють !