On Tuesday, August 6, the Dynamo youth team visited the Football House in Kyiv.
Andriy Shevchenko. Photo: fcdynamo.comIn a solemn atmosphere, Dynamo players heard warm words from the President of the Ukrainian Football Association Andriy Shevchenko and the President of the Ukrainian Premier League Yevhen Dykyi.
Andriy SHEVCHENKO, President of the UAF:
- Everything that does not kill us makes us stronger. This war and the situation in the country will make us stronger, strengthen our faith in Ukraine. So let's thank the guys and girls who are defending our country on the front line and do it every day. Thanks to them and the fact that they are there, we can live and play football (applause in the audience).
I think you made the right choice in your life by wearing a Dynamo Kyiv shirt. I can tell you this for sure, based on my own football career (smiles). This club gives you many opportunities and chances to discover yourself. So I congratulate you on this achievement, which is very important at the beginning of your professional career. But this is only the first step. You have made it. Now you are opening up new horizons in your sports life, and they will be much more important than those that have already been.
Life is so arranged that each of your next steps is much more responsible, much more difficult. And you need to prepare for it, first of all mentally. You have to set yourself tasks, understand how to prepare for them and implement them. These tasks can be for a year, for five to ten years, or for the next day. But you have to set them for yourself.
Discipline, hard work, belief in yourself - and, of course, the desire to work for the team. I also wish you to perform well on the European stage, to represent your club and your home country with dignity.
Yevhen Dykyi, President of the UPL:
- First of all, I would like to wish that your main victories are ahead. Looking back, this was your smallest achievement in your long professional career. In the last championship, you demonstrated really high-quality football, scored the most goals and conceded the fewest, so this shows that you really deserve to be named the champions of the U19 championship of the 2023/2024 season.
We wish you good health, of course, a peaceful sky above your head, so that the air raids are finally over, so that all our family and friends are healthy. Many football players have relatives defending their homeland with arms in their hands, and despite this, you go out and play, fully giving yourself to the game. And this deserves a lot of respect. I wish you all the best and that all your desires in your career and in life will come true.
After the formalities were completed, the players, coaching staff, administrators, doctors, and masseurs received the winners' gold medals and a beautiful cup, enjoying a moment of glory.
It will be recalled that the White and Blues successfully began their championship defense by defeating Oleksandriya 2-0 in the first round of the new 2024/2025 season. And next Thursday, August 8, Dynamo will play their next scheduled match - again away against Veres Rivne.
