Midfielder of Kyiv “Dynamo” Oleksandr Karavaev, who scored a goal in yesterday’s match of his team against Donetsk “Shakhtar” (1:1) in the 11th round of the Ukrainian championship, shared his impressions of this match.
Oleksandr Karavaev— For some reason, it was hard today, we need to talk to the guys. We played below our level, especially in the first half. I don’t know what we were afraid of; perhaps it was influenced by the fact that in this situation, the points were more needed by them. But still, we can’t play like this; we must not deviate from our principles. We will analyze the game; this will be good food for thought, so as not to repeat the mistakes made today in the future. In any case, we have to play much better.
— In the last match, which took place in Lviv, the situation was the opposite — the points were more needed by “Dynamo”?
— Yes, we only needed to win; we rushed forward from the first minutes. I wouldn’t say that today we intended to hold the result; on the contrary, we wanted to win this match, but something went wrong. Maybe it just wasn’t our day. We will draw the right conclusions, the main thing is that we managed to snatch a draw. We could have won, but we were just a bit unlucky. We’ll have luck in the upcoming matches.
— Before the match during the warm-up, a soldier approached you with the Ukrainian flag…
— Yes, I saw that he was having a hard time; he said that he came from “zero,” and tears came to his eyes. He gave me a flag and said that I would score today — and that’s how it happened. I promised to give him my jersey.
— What thoughts did you have when you came on as a substitute? Did you expect to score?
— Yes. I actively thought about it because I know that I can and know when to do it, and I want to do it as long as I have everything for it. So I really wanted to stand out, especially since the statistics say that I have played against “Shakhtar” 28 times and have never scored. Today I succeeded in doing it in my style. Everything happened as it should.
— The game was quite emotional — the ball hit the post, and we had to clear the sphere from the goal line. Did you feel a special tension?
— Of course, it was a crucial game between the giants of Ukrainian football; it’s obvious that each team wanted to win, so they created many chances.
— In the first half, “Shakhtar” had more chances to score, and one of them was realized by the Donetsk team at the beginning of the second half. Did the conceded goal spoil your plans?
— Of course. We wanted to win and not concede — that’s our plan for every game. But, I can say it’s good that we conceded at the beginning because we had time to recover and play sharper. In general, we need to “switch on” and do our job immediately, not after we concede.
— Did the dismissal of a player from the opponent’s side significantly affect the game?
— Yes, of course, it becomes easier when the opponent has one player less. You just need to capitalize on this advantage better. Yes, there were many clashes; I don’t approve of Sudakov’s harsh play in the early minutes. It can harm any player’s health. But I understand that in such matches, the passions run high. I understand that nobody wants to lose, but you have to act within the rules.
— The next game is against “Vorskla” in the Ukrainian Cup; what do you expect from it?
— It will also be a crucial match since it’s already not a championship, but a Cup, and that says it all. We had a bitter experience last season when we lost to “Obolon.” But that’s history now; this is a new season. The task for “Dynamo” is always the same — to win the championship and the Ukrainian Cup.
