Ukrainian striker Nazariy Rusyn of Sunderland spoke about the problems with adaptation in England, commented on the performances of the Ukrainian national team at Euro 2024, and assessed the draw for Dynamo and Dnipro-1 in the qualifiers for next season's European competitions.
Nazariy Rusyn- How would you rate your debut season at Sunderland?
- It was a difficult season for me. I moved to a completely new country and a new team. Before the move, I hardly trained for about a month and a half - only in the gym, because I had problems with my groin muscles and had to heal them.
When I arrived, they were already playing the seventh round, so I slowly started to get acquainted with the championship and get in shape. The language also played a role - it was very important, and I didn't know it.
In general, football is not only a football field, but also a lot more beyond it.
The first 4 months were very difficult for me. Then it got better, but then I got injured, it happens, it's football. I don't want the injury to serve as any kind of excuse for me, so I'll just state that the season was unsuccessful for me.
- Have you recovered from the injury and are you ready for the training camp?
- We were given a vacation program, and I followed it. I think I'm ready for the training camp.
- Do you already know when they will take place?
- Preparations will begin soon.
- There is another Ukrainian playing for Sunderland's youth team - Timur Tuterov from Kolos (Kovalivka), do you know if he will take part in the training camp with the main team?
- There is no information on this yet.
- How is life in Britain in general, have you gotten used to everything?
- I like it here, my family likes it here, so everything is fine. I think Sunderland is a good city for family life.
- It so happens that many Ukrainian footballers play in England. Do you keep in touch with any of them? Maybe someone helped you with adaptation and moving?
- I keep in touch with Vitaliy Mykolenko, we've known each other since the days of Dynamo, where we played together. He helped me a lot with the move, gave me a lot of advice, for which I am very grateful. I talked to Yevhen Yarmolyuk a little bit on vacation, we had a rest together. And that's probably all, I don't communicate with anyone else.
- You probably follow Euro 2024, what do you think about the performance of the Ukrainian national team?
- I'm sorry that it happened. In fact, we have a very good, high-quality team, the coaching staff is good, but this also happens, there is nothing to be done about it. I liked what Ilya Zabarny said, that shit happens sometimes. We played a bad game against Romania, and they, on the contrary, played their best game, which probably had a lot to do with it.
- Do you continue to follow the Euro after Ukraine's exit? If so, who are you rooting for and why?
- I'm rooting for Portugal, mostly because of Cristiano Ronaldo, because he's my idol not only of my childhood but of my entire football life.
- What do you think about the draws for Dynamo and Dnipro-1 in the European Cups?
- I'll be rooting for Dynamo and worrying because it's my home team. I think they got a good draw, and I hope they will go further (according to the results of the draw, Kyiv got the Serbian Partizan - ed.) As for Dnipro-1, I don't know (their opponent is the Hungarian Pushkas Academy - ed.) We really need to see if the team will still exist at that time.
Ihor Lysenko
