— How do you feel after the first training sessions at the camp? Seems like the mood is good?
— Yes, everything is great. The first two days have passed, of course, they are quite tough because we were resting before that. Now the load has started, plus this morning we had tests. I understand that this is necessary, so we just need to endure and accept it, because it will later be a plus for us during the second part of the season. And the mood is good because we have been training for two days now, and our team has won for two days. (Smiles).
— Have you noticed any differences from previous training camps in these two days, since these are by no means your first winter training camps with Dynamo? This time the preparation will stretch over a month and a half for the first time?
— The difference is that this time we gathered early. The situation turned out such that we still have two official games in the Europa League in January, and this is a bit unusual. As for the load, there is nothing special, it is what it should be in the first days, gradually and slowly increasing.
— You played a mini-tournament with four teams and won, so you say that you have a good mood. But how is the mood of the team in general? For those who lose, it’s not very pleasant?
— Such competitions add a bit of emotion to the training, but overall the mood is working, because everyone understands there is a time to rest and a time to work, and actually to work productively, to fulfill all tasks, plus to functionally lift oneself to a higher level so that later in official games the physical condition is very, very strong.
— The training camp will last a month and a half, how do your loved ones cope with such long separations? How do you communicate, what do you do to feel closer?
— Such periods are always hard because you are far from home. Especially when there is a war in our country and our cities are being bombed, of course, every day we worry a lot because we can’t help from afar. Of course, I want my family to go abroad too, but the children are studying, and I just don’t want to go somewhere for the sake of going.
Of course, we communicate several times a day via video, I feel somewhat calmer when I see that everything is fine with the family. If we have days off, I would like my family to come so that we could at least spend a few days together.
— So far you have two training sessions every day, do you have time for anything else? What do you do at the hotel?
— Recovery. Between training sessions, it’s sleep to rest, because when you sleep, your body recovers best. Therefore, a lot of time needs to be dedicated to this. So recovery and communication with family. There is barely enough time for anything else.
Oleksandr Karavaev
