Graduate of Kyiv’s Dynamo, goalkeeper Taras Luzenko, who is now working as a coach at the Academy of his hometown club, talked about his path in football.
«I started learning with Serhiy Rebrov»
— Taras, your coaching career is now taking place in the Dynamo Academy. Do you quickly find common ground with the kids?
— I have four children, so I manage. (Smiles). But seriously, home experience also helps in work and relationships with children. However, ultimately, everything is individual. After all, people are different.
— When did you decide that after your football career, you would coach?
— I grew up in a sports family. My father is a coach, my mother is a physical education teacher. And during my football career, especially towards the end of my performances, I thought more about what to do next. In the first half of 2009, at a family council, we decided that I would finish and try to stay at my native club.
— Were you offered a specific position, or did you approach the management yourself?
— I had a conversation with Ihor Mykhailovych Surkis, who suggested I try myself as a goalkeeper coach at Dynamo U-21, which was then coached by Volodymyr Fedorovych Muntyan. So, I began my coaching activity without breaking off from production, so to speak. And I realized that for a coach’s job—only 10% from the player’s career. I had to learn a lot every day to be able to progress.
Together with Serhiy Stanislavovych Rebrov, who finished playing just like I did, we went to coaching courses. First for category B, then for A. Rebrov went further for a PRO diploma, and I went for goalkeeper courses. And so gradually, my new job entered the usual rhythm of life.
«I try to follow all the top championships»
— Who was your first protégé when you started coaching?
— Artur Rud’ko, Anatoliy Tymofiiev, and Serhiy Tkachuk. Although Rud’ko trained more with the second team. If I'm not mistaken, Tkachuk has long received Kazakh citizenship and has already finished his career, while Tymofiiev played in Ukraine, then performed in Georgia and Belarus.
— In the future, do you plan to work with adult teams?
— I don’t look that far ahead. It’s here and now. I have already worked with U-21, U-19, academic age, in school, helped Volodymyr Yezersky, Yuriy Moroz, and Dmytro Mykhailenko in youth national teams. So I don’t complain about my coaching activities. At each time interval, there was an opportunity to improve. I try to do everything as best as I can where I am, and this brings me satisfaction.
— Which coach do you admire on a European scale?
— It’s hard to say. A coach does not always have the opportunity to select footballers according to his vision of the game. There are different periods. For example, Josep Guardiola. It seems that there are opportunities, but there comes a period in which it is impossible to produce the result that the coach and the club management want. In such moments, this is where the level of the specialist lies, when, in a critical situation, you need to find a way out of the situation. I try to follow all top championships, especially where Ukrainians play. This includes the English Premier League, Serie A, Spanish La Liga, and the Portuguese championship. To the least extent, I watch the German Bundesliga, but I try not to miss matches between the giants. So I not only watch but also analyze, and sometimes I bring examples of the best moments to my protégés.
«Mykhailo Mykhailov had the most influence on me»
— Are you currently a goalkeeper coach?
— Not entirely. There is the head coach, a goalkeeper coach, and a physical training coach. But this is a process of the entire coaching staff; everyone has their say, and then we come to a common denominator. We teach the basics to make it easier for the guys to develop and improve further.
— Do you have a specific age group?
— Currently, I am assigned to the 2008 (U-17) and 2010 (U-15) birth years. There was a period in 2022 when I had to work with several groups as some teams with their coaches left for abroad in the first months of the war.
— In your football life, there were many coaches. Who influenced you the most?
— One of the first I would name is Mykhailo Leonidovych Mykhailov, who laid the foundation and vision of football, which we are now trying to develop in our work. But if we take my football career, it was, of course, those people when I was just entering professional football: Yevhen Vasyliovych Rudakov and Valentyn Havryloviich Ivakin. And then, at each stage of my football life, there were many specialists under whom I tried to become better. Although it didn’t always work out, but that was exclusively my fault.
«My first salary at Dynamo was higher than my parents' salaries combined»
— You can say you are a rooted Dynamo player. At what age did you join the Dynamo school?
— I first studied at the boarding school, and then in 1990, I and Dmytro Symchuk were invited for a trial for the Dynamo double, when the USSR still existed. We played away against Moscow’s Spartak, and after that match, we were enrolled in the team. We played there for half a year, and then Dynamo-2 was formed. The team was accepted by Volodymyr Ivanovych Onyshchenko and Valeriy Leonidovych Zuev.
— Who were the future stars playing at Dynamo-2 back then?
— There were many strong players at that time. For instance, Yura Grytsina. I didn’t get to see Serhiy Yuran. By the way, we often had joint training sessions with the first team. I remember how Pavlo Oleksandrovych Yakovenko worked. He had an individual approach to training. At that time, it was something unique. He prepared for training, worked during class, and then practiced individually after the class ended. He was a true professional and an example for young footballers.
— When did you receive your first salary at Dynamo?
— I don’t remember exactly when it happened, but the sum was, if I’m not mistaken, 250 rubles. And this is while my mother earned 80 and my father 120. I clearly remember that I gave that money to my parents.
«I was already upset, but Lobanovsky forgave»
— Did you outline any plans for the future at that time?
— Not to that extent. It was a period of formation, a transition from children's and youth football to adult football. I remember on my first gathering, the main team and the double went. There were six goalkeepers, among them was Oleksandr Zhidkov, Sviatoslav Syrota, Andrii Kovtun. I had a lot to learn in the company of such stars. At some stages, Valdemaras Martinkėnas also connected with us.
This was a strong school for me, even though I played little at that time because Kovtun was the first number at Dynamo-2, who, by the way, from the second Dynamo team made it to the national team of Ukraine.
When you are trying to transition to adult football, you often face difficulties that are not only football-related but also non-football-related.
— Is that about star syndrome?
— Not only that. As they said back then, you had to go through fire, water, and brass pipes. And everyone experiences this period differently. Some can’t cope and end their football career in youth. Fortunately, I avoided that.
— Did you adhere to a regimen?
— What was I adhering to? (Smiles). I try to be that way even now. Although, of course, different situations arise. But overall, I tried to be a professional.
— Did you not fall under disciplinary sanctions?
— That didn’t happen. But I remember one case when I almost fell. There was a friendly match when Dynamo-2 was reinforced by several players from the starting lineup, and we played a friendly match. After the first half, we were winning maybe 3:0 or 4:1. Valeriy Vasylovych Lobanovsky always monitored such processes. So, in the locker room, the coach showed with his look that he was dissatisfied with our actions, as if saying that this wasn’t what we agreed on before the game, so everyone would be fined 500 dollars, which at that time was my monthly salary. I was already upset, but in the end, I got away with it.
«Shovkovsky and Kernozenko gave no reason to doubt their mastery»
— Who was your role model among goalkeepers at that time?
— Of course, that was Viktor Chanov, Mykhailo Mykhailov, and Andrii Kovtun, with whom I worked for a long time. He also taught me a lot.
— The years went by, but you still didn’t make it to the first team. Competition?
— Yes. At first, Oleksandr Volodymyrovych Shovkovskyi, and later, Viacheslav Serhiyovych Kernozenko, gave no reason to doubt their mastery. (Smiles). But I had no grudges. This was my fault, perhaps I didn’t think right, didn’t understand the requirements.
— Your debut in the top league was in June 1995 for Vinnytsia's Nyva. Were you overwhelmed with excitement as a 21-year-old goalkeeper?
— Probably there was excitement, but not more than that. I played in the first league, and then a number of players, including myself, were sent at the end of the season to Nyva. The coach there was Serhiy Yuriyovych Morozov. If in the game you’re excited, then nothing will work out. We managed to complete the task and help the team stay in the top league.
Then we went on vacation with our families to Cyprus, and from there the wives headed back to Ukraine, while we went to Ruit for a gathering with the first team, which was managed by Yozhef Sabo.
— What can you say about this coach?
— What can I say? He was the head coach. At my young age, I had to work and prove my ability.
«I debuted for the Dynamo first team under Lobanovsky»
— Then for several years, you again tried to break into the Dynamo first team. Why didn’t you go to another team to play?
— Such an opportunity existed. In 1997, Donetsk Metaluhr took Volodymyr Onyshchenko, and he asked about my desire to change club residency. I was not against it, but, as I understand, they were counting on me in Dynamo because they didn't let me go.
But already in 1998, ahead of the last match of the Champions League group stage against Lance, I talked to Mykhailo Mykhailov that, as a matter of fact, there was an opportunity to continue my career in another club. The initiator of this transition was Pavlo Yakovenko, who had already taken Uralan. I went to the president Hryhoriy Mykhailovych Surkis, and he let me go. And within a few days, I was in Cyprus with Uralan.
At that time, in Elista, the team was completely new; only a few people remained from the previous season, so in two to three months, we not only had to form a new team but also set up the game.
— Were you already under Lobanovsky in the main team?
— Yes. Shovkovskyi was the first number, Kernozenko was the second, and I can say I was the third goalkeeper. In the playing cycle, Shovkovskyi played for the starting team, Kernozenko for Dynamo-2, and I for Dynamo-3. This was to keep all the goalkeepers in shape.
— And under Lobanovsky, you debuted for the first team of Dynamo.
— Yes. That was a match of the Ukrainian Cup against Dynamo-3. We played at the Dynamo stadium and won with a score of 5:0. I remember that Andriy Shevchenko and Yuriy Kalytvintsev each scored twice, and one goal was attributed to Valentyn Belkevych.
— Did you communicate with Valeriy Lobanovsky?
— There were only individual conversations. Although once before the season, I got injured when I was already a Uralan player. I was allowed to recover at the Dynamo base, and I crossed paths with Valeriy Vasylovych in the elevator. He said a few words to me, and I understood that he knew more about my injury than I did. (Smiles).
«Pavlo Yakovenko left Uralan on his own»
— In the gap between your Dynamo career, you had a long-term assignment at Uralan. And as you said, you were called up to Elista by Pavlo Yakovenko. Everyone has heard about this coach’s workload. Did it not apply to goalkeepers?
— The goalkeepers were coached by Serhiy Viktorovych Krakovskyi. To be honest, it was hard for everyone at that time. By the way, on the eve of the transition to Dynamo, Artem Yashkin and Serhiy Kormil'tsev left. As I said, the team was being rebuilt. Many footballers went through the gathering period. Akhrik Tsveiba came, one of the players I was lucky enough to play with at Dynamo. There was a strict regimen. In the morning, there was a workout, then two training sessions, and gym work. But the goals justified the costs. There was simply no alternative.
We lived without respite all the preseason in Cyprus; the wives of the footballers visited them three times during that time. By the way, I shared a room with Pavlo Shkapenko.
I received the injury I already mentioned at training a few days before the first spring match in the Russian championship.
— And so it happened that your debut for Uralan occurred when Yakovenko was no longer with the team. The coach was dismissed due to poor results?
— I understand that there were not just these reasons. There were also financial issues as there were salary arrears. As far as I know, Yakovenko left on his own.
— The Uralan manager Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was not too lenient with the coaches. Only during your tenure, eight coaches changed. Did the president lack patience?
— When I returned from my injury, the team was already headed by Oleksandr Averyanov. It seemed that I started playing, but in spring I got injured again. It was nothing dreadful, but I ended up out for a year and a half. And during that time, the coaches were indeed changed often as the results were lacking. And when I recovered, Uralan had already accepted Ihor Shalimov.
«After the mistake in Luzhniki, Filimonov's career fell»
— At that time, Alexander Filimonov and Yuri Okroshidze were already in the team...
— By the way, Okroshidze, together with Yuriy Leontiyovych Moroz, became world champions in 1987 with the USSR U-17 team. And Oleksandr Filimonov came to Uralan from Dynamo because he, as a Russian national team goalkeeper, needed match practice, which he did not have in Kyiv.
— You didn't mention his infamous blunder in Luzhniki in the match Russia - Ukraine?
— No. For every goalkeeper, every goal conceded is like a knife to the heart. That goal cost Russia their place in the European Championship. It’s clear that it was hard for him to return to that episode. In my opinion, at that moment, when Andriy Shevchenko sent the ball towards the goal, Filimonov was faced with a double decision in his head—whether to catch or to deflect. This mistake seriously affected his subsequent career, which went downhill; then problems began in his family, and naturally, the fan sections pursued him for a long time.
— At that time, Uralan could have been led by Yevhen Kucherevskyi.
— Yes. He was in the team, monitoring the process, but something didn’t work out with the management of the club. Mephodiyovych refused to accept Uralan. The reasons? I don’t know them.
— Returning to Ilyumzhinov, was the president generous with the footballers?
— At least he fulfilled what he promised.
«Abdulov would come to the locker room to congratulate us on victories»
— What were the largest bonuses you received at Uralan?
— Various amounts were mentioned. But the largest bonus, if I’m not mistaken, was around 100,000 dollars.
— And at Dynamo?
— Approximately the same amounts. But it should not be forgotten that I was not, so to speak, a constant player in the starting lineup. For example, the president could at any moment raise the bonus amount.
— Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was close to the team?
— How to say. He rarely came, but sometimes when there were games in Moscow, we gathered at his residence, chatting before the game. Often, famous personalities would visit him. In particular, the actor Alexander Abdulov would come to the locker room to congratulate us on victories, as he was friends with Ilyumzhinov.
— What was interesting about Elista, considering it’s not a metropolis like Kyiv?
— Indeed, the city is not large, about 100,000 inhabitants. We lived in a town built for the World Chess Olympics, which took place in Elista in 1998.
Entertainment? Sometimes as a team, we would go out into nature to relax. After being at Dynamo, I had much more time to spend with my family. Since we had an international team, we invented reasons to diversify life. For example, the wives showed off their talent in preparing national dishes. My wife, for instance, made pumpkin porridge for breakfast. On another day for lunch, we had borscht. I also got the chance to taste Abkhaz and Italian dishes.
Well, training and traveling. Essentially, there wasn’t much free time.
— Ilyumzhinov was president of FIDE for many years. Did you learn to play chess in Elista?
— I could play; my dad made me this gift when I was 16.
— Did you not participate in local tournaments?
— No, I didn’t get a chance. (Smiles).
«In Transcarpathia, a solid bonus was given for the friendly match»
— After Uralan, you found yourself at Zakarpattya.
— Correct. In late December 2003, Volodymyr Bohdanovych Vasyutyk called me and offered to try my luck in the Uzhhorod team. I went for a trial, there was a conversation with head coach Viktor Ryashko, and I signed a contract. By the way, you asked about bonuses. So, there was an interesting case. Zakarpattya played a friendly match during their gathering against a foreign team. We won. After the game, the president entered the locker room and handed out a decent sum for a good result and a nice game, just like that for a friendly win. I don’t remember the specific bonus, but the fact that it was given stands out. (Smiles).
At that time, Vladimir Ovsiyenko was the first number in the team, but I waited for my chance, and then I took it and started playing.
— Can we say that your period at Zakarpattya was one of the best in your career regarding playing practice?
— Why not? There was also a good period in Elista until I got injured. I am confident that Pavlo Yakovenko built that team, which later yielded results. That season, Uralan climbed from the bottom of the league table to seventh place.
As for Zakarpattya, we must give credit to Viktor Ryashko for making a combat-ready team from the material at his disposal. At that time, there were players like Vasyl Kobin, Taras Ilniytskyi, Andriy Sapuga, Yevhen Cheberiachko, Valentyn Slyusar, Ruslan Yaros, Mykhailo Kopolovets, Oleksiy Savinov, Oleksandr Pishchur. All these individuals later performed at a good level.
«Oleksandr Rybka did not fully realize his potential»
— In July 2005, you played your first match in the starting lineup of Dynamo against Zakarpattya, from which you had just returned.
— It happens. Yes, I remember we won 2:1.
— An interesting fact: in domestic competitions, when you played in the starting lineup of Dynamo, the team never lost...
— I didn’t pay attention to such statistics. At that time, it was not about counting, but about working.
— You played a few matches for the first team, but is there a particular match that stands out the most?
— For me, every match is an event as I haven't played enough to let such moments slip from my memory.
— Upon your return to Dynamo in 2005, you found that, as before, Shovkovskyi played a leading role, while the second was young Rybka. Did you see potential in him then?
— When I returned, there were Oleksandr Shovkovskyi, Vitaliy Reva, and me in the team. After a while, I got injured, and Oleksandr Rybka, who had promising prospects, was promoted to the first team. Throughout his career, he displayed a solid level both at Dynamo and Obolon, as well as Shakhtar. Nowadays, we often cross paths because his son trains at the Dynamo academy. However, I can say that Sashko did not fully realize his potential; he could have achieved more.
I often give the example of Oleksandr Shovkovskyi to my protégés, who improved throughout his busy career. A telling moment is the fact that whenever a person got injured, he returned to the field even stronger, which is a rare trait. This allowed Oleksandr Volodymyrovych to remain the number one, not only at Dynamo but also in the Ukraine national team, for a long time.
«Because of my mistake, we nearly paid dearly in the match against Droeda»
— I can’t help but ask about the match for the Super Cup of Ukraine against Donetsk Shakhtar in 2007. Dynamo came out for this match, one could say, with a second-string squad but won. What was the rationale behind the coaches' decision?
— Did no one believe in us? (Smiles). Honestly, I can’t recall why that decision was made. The only thing I can say is that if we won, then the coaches' approach was justified. It was a chance for the youth to showcase themselves to the coach. Plus, Shakhtar is a solid opponent.
— Your last match in your career was in November 2008.
— Yes, in domestic competitions, it was a cup match against Alchevsk Steel, which we won 4:1. And on the international stage in August of the same year, it was a home match in the qualifying round of the Champions League against Irish club Drogheda United. We squeaked through after a 2:1 away victory, playing a 2:2 draw at home. I, unfortunately, made a critical error at the end of that match. In the next, decisive round of qualification, there was an impressive performance against Moscow’s Spartak, which we defeated by a total score of 8:2.
Thus, in the winter, I was no longer part of the first team’s gathering. Olexandr Shovkovskyi, Stanislav Bohush, Oleksandr Rybka, and Artur Zahladiy went. I still had half a year left on my contract. It was hard to adjust to continuing my career in another team after so many years at Dynamo. Therefore, the time that remained was used for training and preparing the reserve players and, to some extent, became a transition period for me until the end of my career. And, as I said at the beginning of our conversation, I had a chat with the club president. Thus began my coaching activity.
«Heorhiy Bushchan is ready for this challenge in a foreign club»
— If we exclude Oleksandr Shovkovskyi, who do you think is the second-best goalkeeper in Dynamo throughout your time there?
— I think Heorhiy Bushchan. He demonstrates a level that corresponds to the Dynamo Kyiv brand and the Ukraine national team. And the fact that he is not the first number in the national team is already the trainers' decision.
— Bushchan, whose rumors sent him to EPL clubs, moved to a foreign club—in Saudi Arabia.
— I can say unequivocally that he is ready for this challenge. And the rest will show here and now. The Ukrainian goalkeeping school has always been strong. Andriy Lunin, Anatoliy Trubin are competing in elite clubs, so I’m not surprised by the demand for our goalkeepers.
— Name your top three current generation Ukrainian goalkeepers?
— 1. Heorhiy Bushchan, 2. Anatoliy Trubin, 3. Andriy Lunin. But I would also give the fourth place to Dmytro Riznyk. (Smiles).
— And which European goalkeepers do you admire?
— There are no perfect goalkeepers. But, for example, I currently like the Argentinian Emiliano Martinez from Aston Villa. I’m impressed with how he operates in the goal and how he directs his teammates. The quality of his game is eloquently confirmed by the gold medal of the World Cup in Qatar.
— What is your coaching dream?
— That the war ends with our victory as soon as possible. Because it takes the lives of our soldiers, people, possibilities, shatters plans. And then I want Dynamo to win the Champions League, and the Ukraine national team to win the World Cup. Of course, such a desire can be compared to some extent with fantasy, but as they say, it doesn’t hurt to dream. (Smiles).
Serhiy Demianchuk
