The head coach of the Austrian national team, Ralf Rangnick, visited Ukraine to conduct seminars for Ukrainian specialists.
Ralf Rangnick"My media agent and close friend, Rafa, told me about the invitation from Andriy Shevchenko and the Ukrainian Football Association to come here or to hold this event on Zoom. I immediately told Rafa: "If it's possible, let's go there." It's a completely different story when you do things like this on the spot in person, not through Zoom.
We had to go down to the basement for half an hour, but overall, for the last two hours, I enjoyed the atmosphere and the energy that was in the room. I heard a lot of good questions from the colleagues present.
I remember when I first became head coach of Schalke, I met Shakhtar in the UEFA Cup. We were playing away, in Donetsk. So, as I said, I've always had a good relationship and a close relationship with Ukraine, with Kyiv and Shakhtar, and so it was very important for me to come here and be here in person.
Of course, last night, when we arrived at 11:30 pm, the city was empty because of the curfew, but today, on the way here, you could see how lively the city still is. But it still doesn't compare to what it was like, for example, in 2018, when I was here to watch the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid. At that time, millions of people were in the streets celebrating.
I really hope that all this madness will end soon and that all people here will be able to live in freedom. As I said, we in Europe must stand with you and fight for freedom, for democracy. I really hope that for everybody here in Kyiv and in the whole of Ukraine, this will end very soon," Rangnick said.
