Dynamo Kyiv midfielder Maxim Bragaru commented on his team's 2-1 victory over Kryvbas in the 9th round of the Ukrainian championship yesterday.
- Congratulations on the victory. The team started the game actively. How did you feel in terms of physical condition?
- You are right that we started well. In the first half, we managed to do what we had agreed on, scoring two goals. But before the break, we conceded, and everyone who has ever played football understands that if you concede in the first or last minutes, you lose confidence. That's exactly what happened - we lost confidence somewhere, and in the second half it was no longer football, but a mess.
But today it was important to get three points first and foremost. Sometimes such matches happen, and it is in such games that the team spirit is manifested.
- How did you decide who would take the penalty?
- Yarmolenko said I should take the penalty. He usually takes the kick, but I thank him for letting me take it this time. It's noteworthy that while the referee was watching VAR, he thought twice about kicking to his left, but changed his mind at the last moment. Now it will be a lesson for me that I don't need to change my original opinion.
- You are the team's top scorer in the Ukrainian league at the moment with three goals...
- In fact, strikers and wing midfielders do a lot for goals - the striker takes the opponent away, and I operate in a zone where the wing player rolls the ball to me, and so I need to solve such moments.
- What was Oleksandr Shovkovskyi's instructions for the second half, given the goal in the locker room?
- Basically, he didn't say anything to change anything in terms of tactics. He only said that the backs should control the ball more, that their attacking group should run more and get tired. But the opponent dismantled us well, they acted against us one-on-one, so it was difficult to control the ball from behind. They didn't block the areas, but went at the player, so we had to knock the ball out a lot.
- You are very focused now, you are in a hurry to catch the train and go to the national team. What is your mood before the matches for the national team?
- In general, it's great, because we managed to win today. If, God forbid, we had lost points, then the mood would have been completely different. As it is, we won, everyone is happy, and the main thing is that everyone returns from the national team without injury.