Oleksandr Babych, the Ukrainian coach of Bulgarian Pirin, compared the championships of Ukraine and Bulgaria.
Oleksandr Babych. Photo by D. Rudenko- You moved from Fratria to Pirin. What are your working conditions like now?
- One hundred per cent, the conditions are good. They are different from the previous ones, because Pirin is in the First League, which is the highest division in Bulgaria. It is a club with a name. When I spoke to the president and CEO, they said that there is a kind of Pirin DNA, a Pirin spirit. I think Pirin is like the Carpathians in Ukraine. It's a similar region, a similar spirit of the teams, a mountainous area. The conditions are much better in everything: infrastructure, players. This is definitely a step forward.
- Is the Bulgarian championship very different from the UPL?
- There is a difference. First of all, Ukraine plays more tactical and power football. And in Bulgaria, it is more open and attacking. Although in terms of tactics, the Ukrainian championship is more interesting. There are few matches that end 0-0. There are a lot of talented players, and a lot of foreigners come here. It's the kind of football that fans like.
- Ukrainian footballer Danylo Polonsky is working with you. You took him from Fratria. Are you still considering the possibility of inviting Ukrainians?
- I want to say that the Ukrainian school is very much appreciated here. They consider Ukrainian players very well. Because this is the level and class of players. And I believe that in the future we will be able to invite players from Ukraine, Romania or Moldova. But I will say that Ukrainians are really seen here as good performers. We also have a Ukrainian goalkeeper, Maksym Kovalev. The goalkeepers from our school are different and they are also at a very good level here. If in Ukraine Kovalev was not really noticed, here he is appreciated.
In the UPL, we give a statuette to the player of the match, but here, in Bulgaria, the best player of the game is given a personalised bottle of champagne. It's so exclusive. Our goalkeeper has already won ten such awards this season. It's nice, but if the goalkeeper receives such recognition, then there is clearly something wrong with the defence. I didn't know Maksym Kovalev in Ukraine, I didn't know him. I have met him here. And I understand that he is a goalkeeper who can reach a very good level. And he is only 23 years old.
Nazariy Shmigil
