Valdas Ivanauskas, the former Lithuanian national team striker and coach, who scored for Ukraine and played in Austria, spoke about Dynamo's opponent in the Champions League play-offs.
- Valdas, do you remember September 1994?
- Of course I do. It was a good match. We met Oleg Protasov, with whom we had crossed paths back in the USSR.
- You spoiled our debut on the international arena. You made us realize that the former merits of Ukrainian players do not play soccer.
- Looking at the development of Ukrainian and Lithuanian soccer, you made the right conclusions. What Shevchenko did in Milan, now Tsygankov and Dovbik are writing a new history of Girona. If it was possible to lose that match in 1994 and get such an impetus to the development of soccer in Lithuania as you have, it would be very useful for us (laughs).
- But your basketball is in order.
- Not everything is as good as you think. After winning medals at the Olympics, World Championship and a full set of awards at EuroBasket, we didn't qualify for the 2020 and 2024 Games. We need to work. In all areas, including soccer. I am surprised how Ukraine can show high results in sports during the war. The events of February 24, 2022 shocked everyone. Hold on!
- Lithuania is helping us a lot. Thank you for that.
- From the first days of the war I opened the door of my house for Ukrainians. Many came. There was Artem Milevskiy's agent Alexander Pankov (Milevskiy played for Brest Dynamo when Ivanauskas worked there - ed.), coach of Dynamo youth team Ihor Kostyuk... I keep in touch with many Ukrainians.
- What do you do after working with the Lithuanian national team?
- Your call found me in the hospital. There is an unpleasant serious problem. Let's not talk about it. I will be out soon and get back to business. I teach young coaches, we give diplomas of different categories.
- Do you keep in touch with your former clubs?
- Of course. I visit them all the time. We exchange experience, remember the past with our former players and friends.
- What do you think about Austrian soccer?
- It is on the rise. You have seen the European Championship. Austrians defeated Poland and the Netherlands, and in an equal game lost to Turkey in the 1/8 finals. Ralf Rangnick has made a great team. I know him well. He changed Austrian soccer, built a new system. By the way, he worked as a sports director of "Red Bull Salzburg". From there he moved to RB Leipzig.
In the Austrian national team play mostly players from German clubs. And there, of course, only very qualified players play there. The level of the national team is very high.
- Can you compare the Austrian Bundesliga with the German one?
- No, there are some strong teams there, "Sturm", "Salzburg", LASK, "Rapid", but the league does not reach the level of Germany. The teams I listed are a head above the others. Those are mid-table. Salzburg has been dictating fashion for years. Won ten championships in a row. But last year, Sturm beat them. That's interesting. I would compare the Austrian Bundesliga to the Belgian and Dutch championships.
- What is the reason for the qualitative leap of Austrian clubs? After all, Salzburg, for example, is a regular participant in the Champions League.
- When I played for Austria, we were killing all our rivals. It was a very strong team. Then came Red Bull. They started to work actively with youth. They have very strong teenage teams. U-15, 17, 19, 21. Of course, some of the players from these teams get into the first team. They have very big financial opportunities. Apparently, you know that this is one of the most profitable clubs in the world.
- How do they manage it?
- The scouting service is very developed. Red Bull's selectors live in Brazil, America, Africa. They have professional teams in the championships of different countries. I know because I started this process together with Rangnick. A very strong system, perfectly built and bringing in a very large amount of money.
- But Salzburg and Leipzig are slightly different teams in terms of the level of play.
- Because Salzburg is the last stop before Leipzig. The selection of players goes in several stages, and the Austrian team is just before the top. From Leipzig, for example, Joschko Guardiola is sold to Manchester City for 90 million, Dani Olmo for 55, Dominic Soboslaj to Liverpool for 70, and they took him from Salzburg for 36 million. Erling Holand was taken to Molde for 8 million, but was given to Borussia for 20 million.
In the summer Salzburg sold the rights of Strahini Pavlovic to Milan for 18 million, Luka Susic went to Real Sociedad for 10. And so it is every year. This is a very serious team. They make money on players, but maybe because the club is nurturing very quality players. Look at the geography of the teams flocking to Salzburg: "Leipzig", "Borussia Dortmund", "Manchester City", "Leeds", "Monaco", "Milan", etc.
- How do they find players like Holand?
- They take a long time to find them. They study the character of the player, where he goes, who he socializes with, what he eats. Of course, a lot of money is spent on this, but the future profit is worth it.
- In the pair Dynamo vs Salzburg, who do you prefer?
- 50/50. I think it will be a very equal game. "Salzburg", I think, made conclusions after the last season, when they lost the championship. And although he sold several leading players, there is someone to replace them. I don't follow the team particularly closely, but they have one goal - the Champions League and winning the Bundesliga. With such ambitions, you need to have high class players. When the teams are of the same level, the one who is better prepared now wins.
Gennady Chekhovskiy