Returning to Kyiv after the 1/8 final match of the Ukrainian Cup against Poltava’s Vorskla, in which the Dynamo players won in extra time with a score of 2:1, the players under the care of Oleksandr Shovkovskyi had one day off, and on Friday began preparations for the next calendar match of the Ukrainian championship against Inhulets from Petrove.
On this day, our team held a training session at the club base in Koncha-Zaspa, which was visited by special guests — children of active servicemen serving in the 153rd Territorial Defense Battalion, as well as children of fallen defenders and those who are in captivity. A total of 35 children and their parents gathered at the Dynamo base.
— Today, parents who are servicemen came to visit Dynamo with their children, as well as wives with the children of those defenders who cannot be present in person, — said Maxim, the deputy commander of the 153rd battalion. — Our unit has fought in the Bakhmut, Lyman, and Pokrovsk directions, and just a month ago we exited the combat zone, and now our unit is on the border of the Sumy region, towards Sudzha.
We reached out to the management of FC Dynamo with a request to hold such a joint event. The club invited us to the team's training session to distract the children a bit and give them positive emotions. This is a wonderful event — they can get to know football and the players up close, visit the inside of Dynamo. Perhaps, some of them will grow up to be future footballers. Such an event is happening for them for the first time, so they are very pleased.
The children will watch the first team training, interact with the footballers, have a photo session, and get autographs. All families are quite sporty, and many of the children are passionate about football and support Dynamo.
While the team was conducting a theoretical session, the children eagerly ran around with balls on one of the fields, and walking onto the territory of the base itself, they excitedly looked around and took photographs.
FC Dynamo (Kyiv) invited important guests to the training base, where they were given a tour of the premises and informed about the building, the number of fields, the team's routine, and the two stars that adorn the Dynamo emblem.
The children, among whom were many Dynamo fans, eagerly awaited the team’s appearance from the main building's doors. When the footballers appeared, their emotions were hard to express in words.
The first to approach the children was midfielder Oleksandr Pikhaliyonok, who is recovering from an injury. Later, other footballers joined in, from whom the little guests took autographs, took photos, and asked various questions.
As for the training itself, it lasted more than an hour and a half and traditionally began with warm-up exercises. Then the players divided into groups and conducted game series on small goals with various tasks from the coaching staff. After a short break, the players began to work on tactical elements already on larger goals on a slightly narrower than standard field, constantly listening to the comments and remarks of the coaches. The session concluded with strike practice on the goals, including preliminary wing crosses and the use of poles shaped like opponents. After training ended, several players stayed to finish up and practice their shots on goal.
It should be noted that on Saturday afternoon, the players will have a traditional gathering at the base, a theoretical session, and after lunch and rest, the team will conduct an evening training. The team will remain at the base, and on the match day after a medical examination and breakfast, they will take a short walk. After lunch, the coaching staff will provide instructions for the game, and two hours before the match starts, the team will head to the stadium. Reminder: the match between Dynamo and Inhulets will begin at 18:00 on Sunday.