The head coach of the Ukraine national team, Sergey Rebrov, shared his impressions of the match of the 4th round of the main stage of the Europa League between his two former teams – Kyiv’s Dynamo and Hungarian Ferencváros (0:4) in an interview with NemzetiSport.
Sergey Rebrov. Photo — A. PopovYou were supposed to attend the Dynamo - Ferencváros match, but dense air traffic prevented your plans. Where are you now?
— These days I really don’t have time to be bored. Earlier in the week, I was in Kyiv, from where I flew to Spain to meet the players of the Ukraine national team, and now I am on my way to the national team’s training camp. I was planning to go to Hamburg to watch the game of my two former teams, but the flight traffic was so dense that I wouldn’t have made it to the game even with a minimal delay, so I decided not to go.
— But you still watched the match?
— Of course, I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. After the draw, I was a bit sorry that Dynamo and Ferencváros didn't meet in Budapest; if they had, I would definitely have been in the stands. As it is, I watched the match on television in my hotel room.
— And what did you think of what you saw?
— Anyone who understands even a little about football could see what happened. I have known Dynamo's head coach, Oleksandr Shovkovskyi, for a long time; he was my teammate. He sought to play attacking football and earn the first points in the Europa League. However, for almost the entire match, Dynamo had to play with ten players, which is a very tough task at such a level, on the European arena.
— Do you think Ferencváros would still have won if it weren't for the red card?
— It’s impossible to say. I am not sure. In the first half, Ferencváros didn't play very well. I was a bit surprised that after they got the numerical advantage, Dynamo had excellent scoring opportunities. Playing with ten men, the Kyiv team could have scored two or three goals. However, there is no doubt that in the second half, the Hungarian team’s game improved, and the first goal changed the psychological picture of the match.
— What happened to Dynamo? By the second half, their game completely fell apart...
— Up to that point, the Dynamo players were holding their own. The first goal came from a mistake out of nowhere, which practically handed Ferencváros the opportunity to score. It seemed to me that after that, the Ukrainian players lost confidence and lost themselves in the game. Meanwhile, Ferencváros, on the contrary, became inspired. Moreover, right after the first goal, the second one followed.
— Is the current Kyiv Dynamo weak?
— The current Dynamo is not what it was many years ago. Mostly, it is young Ukrainians, and only one foreign player, the Panamanian forward (Eduardo Guerrero, - ed.), was in the lineup on Thursday, and he came on as a substitute. There are skilled, talented players in the squad, but it must be taken into account that in the current situation, foreign players do not want to move to Kyiv. In this regard, another Ukrainian team, Shakhtar Donetsk, is better off, as they have eleven foreign players in their roster.
— Is it true that during home matches of Dynamo, air raid sirens sometimes go off, and the players have specific routes to shelters that they must go to in such cases?
— Unfortunately, this happens all the time. After a forced break, the game resumes.
— Do you still live with your family in Kyiv? Aren’t you afraid of missile strikes, the dangers of war?
— What can I say about this? We hope for the best. I do not say that life in Kyiv is devoid of dangers, but I do not say that everyday life there is terrible. We spend a lot of time with my family in the capital of Ukraine; Kyiv is our home.
— But the matches of the Ukraine national team are not held there. Where do you prepare the team?
— Always not far from the venue of the nearest match. Next week, we will play against Georgia and Albania in the Nations League, so this time we will meet the players not far from Georgia. It will be better for the footballers and their families if we train away from the war.
Translation and stylistic adaptation — Dynamo.kiev.ua, when using the material a hyperlink is mandatory!
