“At the selection in Dynamo, we were watched by the first coaches Blokhin and Shevchenko, and after Onishchenko’s shots, I was taken into the team”
— As I understand, you continue to work in the Dynamo academy? How do you like working with young people?
— Now I work specifically in the children’s school Dynamo. I really enjoy working with children. I think I would like to continue working specifically with the youth.
— Do you draw parallels with players of your generation and the current ones? What are the main differences?
— I cannot draw parallels as my first goalkeeper coach appeared only in 1993-1994 — it was Mykhailo Leonidovych Mykhailov. He came to Dynamo a couple of years before Lobanovskyi’s return.
Do you remember the base in Nyvky, from which only a green field remains now? We were there together with Shovkovskiy and Kernosenko, shooting football, falling, catching something. So, in this regard, I wouldn’t make any parallels.
— And what about the difference in mentality? What stands out?
— They are absolutely different generations; we didn’t have gadgets. We had a rotary phone at home and spent all our time outside. Now the youth have computers, PlayStations, iPhones, etc. I have said many times that this is a problem for children. In my time, if there was at least one “glasses-wearing” in the entire class, everyone bullied them. And now what? If you are without glasses, you are bullied.
Why is that? Because moms and dads give children phones, like, “Stay there, just don’t disturb.” How was it before? So that you don’t disturb, you are given a loaf of bread, a liter of milk, and go play outside. This, of course, toughens you up, prepares you for adult life. Our generation was raised on the street.
— When did your journey in football begin? Who was your first coach?
— When I was seven years old, there was a selection in Nyvky for Dynamo. My first coach was Volodymyr Ivanovych Onishchenko. Then about 120 boys came to the selection — no less. Now about 30 boys come to the selection — no more. So, we were lined up under the fence, then sent to play in fours on the gravel playground. Someone juggled something, twisted around, no one conducted any tests.
Among the coaches present were Oleksandr Vasylovych Leonidov (the first coach of Blokhin), Oleksandr Oleksandrovych (Shpakov, the first coach of Shevchenko) and Volodymyr Ivanovych Onishchenko. They watched to see who could do what and began selecting the best. I got into one of the fours, but I didn’t make it there. Then Volodymyr Ivanovych asked, “Maybe, someone is catching something in the yard, standing in goals?”.
— And that’s how your goalkeeper career began?
— I don’t want to delve into details, but I had decent experience playing street football. In my yard, there was a playground where I came with my ball, but usually the men played there. I gave them my ball, and they, so as not to trample and kill me, put me in goals.
So at the selection in Dynamo, I stood in goals, and Onishchenko started shooting at me. He shoots right — I catch. He shoots left — I also parry. Before me, a couple of guys tried in goals, but they tried to kick the ball out with their feet, something else. In short, it looked clumsy. I fell and tried to catch the ball with my hands. Well, and Volodymyr Ivanovych tells me: “That’s it, come — you will be the goalkeeper.” And from the age of seven, I don’t play, but play in goals.
— At one time, Anatoliy Kroshchenko told me in an interview that Shovkovskiy burst into tears when he heard he would have to stand in goals. You perceived this normally, because the main thing was to break into Dynamo?
— At that age, I didn’t fully understand what Dynamo was. I just wanted to play football. At that time, there was no such thing that if I didn’t get into Shakhtar, then there were lots of different options and trials. The main goal was to get into the football school.
“Working with Lobanovskyi was very good, but when meeting him, it took away my gift of speech”
— What bright impressions remain from the period in the Dynamo school?
— I remember how in 1991 we went to a tournament in the USA with the team born in 1977. After the collapse of the USSR, many promising boys remained in America — the same Dmytro Kovalenko, who is a graduate of Dynamo. Also, Petro Slobodyan’s son settled there.
— Can you recall talented players from your generation of Dynamo players who should have played at a higher level than they did?
— The first is Andriy Demchenko, but not the one who later coached in Georgia. Also Serhiy Balanchuk, who died at the front. There was another Balanchuk from 1976, but he also didn’t make it. I remember Mykola Kostenko, who went into mini-football, later became the coach of the Ukraine mini-football national team (now leads the Ukraine beach football national team — ed. “UF”). Maksym Pavlenko also found himself in mini-football, worked as a coach for Uragan. There were many talented boys, but I can’t recall them all now.
— You were included in the first team Dynamo lineup several times when it was led by Valeriy Lobanovskyi. Can we say these are the moments you remember for the rest of your life?
— At that time, there were very strong Dynamo-2, Dynamo-3, so nobody knew anything about getting into the lineup. I remember being on the lineup for the Champions League; there was even a jersey with some number. And working with Valeriy Vasylovych was very nice. I was at several training camps in Ruyti, where Lobanovskyi took the first and second teams of Dynamo. That was an unforgettable period.
— What impression did Valeriy Vasylovych make on a young Dynamo player?
— I remember how at the airport he always greeted everyone by hand and looked straight in the eye. But when I approached Lobanovskyi, you understand, it took away my gift of speech, my knees trembled. At theoretical classes, we all sat together, and at those gatherings in Ruyti, we had about 45 people. And we listened to Valeriy Vasylovych with our mouths open.
“Players who were in leading roles at Dynamo behaved arrogantly towards the youth”
— Did you get to play shoulder to shoulder with players from the first team Dynamo?
— Yes, at that same Ruyti at the trainings they divided us into Dynamo and Dynamo-2. In the first half of the gathering, they mixed us up: 10 players from the first team and 10 from the second. For example, Shevchenko and Nesmachniy could play together, who at that moment was in Dynamo-2.
— Were there players from the first Dynamo team who especially impressed you with their playing level?
— No. Everyone was equal, but... I’ll say this, those who understood they were playing in leading roles in the first team behaved a little arrogantly towards the youth. It wasn’t abuse, no one humiliated anyone, didn’t take butter at the dining hall, but no one would look at you twice.
— Did competition with Shovkovskiy and Kernosenko prevent you from establishing yourself in the first Dynamo team, or were there other reasons?
— What reasons... Look at the goalkeepers we had playing at that time — Shovkovskiy (born 1975), Kernosenko (1976) and Romanenko (1977). However, SaSho was indeed a very powerful goalkeeper.
— Could it be that SaSho so outperformed all his competitors?
— If Shovkovskiy was the main goalkeeper of Dynamo for so many years, then he deserved it. He was strong, very strong.
— They say one of Shovkovskiy’s main assets is his psychology. Supposedly he doesn’t dwell on mistakes, but just continues to play on.
— Yes, that’s psychology. He didn’t pay attention to mistakes, worked on — it’s very important for a goalkeeper.
“Before the game against Dynamo, they told me: ‘You’re sick, and Ishchenko we’re removing’”
— In 2000 you moved to Tavriya. It is known that at that time the Simferopolians were connected with crime, namely with the organized criminal group 'Bashmaky'. What was the situation in the Crimean team during your time?
— The leader of Tavriya was Ruven Lvovich Aronov, although officially he held the position of vice-president. The president was nominally Viktor Karasyov. As far as I know, they are no longer alive. At that time, I was young, so I didn’t pay particular attention to those moments. However, in 2001, when I was removed from Tavriya, I understood everything.
— And what exactly did you understand? Share the story.
— At that moment, I was playing for Tavriya on loan from Dynamo. In the last round of the championship 2000/01, the fate of the championship was being decided, and simultaneously Dynamo and Shakhtar were playing. The Donetsk players claimed the gold medals, and we needed to take points from Kyivans in the last round. And then they brought money...
At that time there were several Dynamo players in Tavriya, and at that time we were playing with Dynamo in the penultimate round. And here we, the Kyivans, were told: “You’re sick, and we’re removing Ishchenko.” Oleksandr Oleksandrovich led Tavriya at that moment, but for that game, Valeriy Petrov was appointed as the head coach. As a result, Tavriya lost to Dynamo 1:2. Then I was accused of throwing the game, although I didn’t even play! Aronov told me directly: “You won’t play because you’re sick.”
— After Crimea, you went to Zakarpattya, which at that time was led by novice coach Yuriy Kalytvyntsev.
— Yes, after the situation with Tavriya, I returned to Kyiv, and then moved to Zakarpattya, where many Dynamo players were sent at that time. The then Zakarpattya was basically a farm club for Dynamo. It was a team of Shufrych, but Dynamo paid us the salary.
— What can you say about working under Kalytvyntsev, who later also worked with the national team of Ukraine?
— At that moment, he was just finishing his playing career and just starting to coach. In that Zakarpattya, Vitya Leonenko also played, who once brought Kalytvyntsev to Kyiv Dynamo. Kalytvyntsev was a God-given football player, although he arrived in Kyiv with a broken leg. I know that Leonenko played a huge role in his transition to Dynamo.
— And how did Leonenko behave in the team at the end of his playing career?
— Leonenko was on level with others. We got close with him then, even though he is eight years older than me. With me, Leonenko didn’t behave oddly in Zakarpattya. In Uzhhorod, he didn’t drink beer with me. We still continue to be friends, play every week for veterans, keep in touch.
“Kvarcyanij gave Khacheryidi 300 dollars and sent him for boots, and he tells Pavlov: ‘F*** me those boots? Look at this cool cap’”
— You played the most matches in your career as part of Kyiv's Obolon. There you worked under the UEFA Super Cup winner — legendary Dynamo player Petro Slobodyan.
— I first joined Obolon back in the 90s when they played in the Second League. I returned to them in 2004 when the team was already led by Slobodyan. As for Petro Petrovych, at that time a very good team gathered in Obolon, we didn’t even really need a coach.
Slobodyan held the trainings — we performed. The main thing was that the team delivered the results that the club management wanted to see. Petro Petrovych was a very gentle man. Did we abuse that in the team? Yes, but we came out and played for the result.
— Then there was Volyn, which, it seems, will forever be associated with Vitaliy Kvarcyanij. What are your impressions of working with this iconic specialist?
— I went to Volyn in 2006 when the team was relegating from the top league, after which I returned to it in 2011. Regarding Kvarcyanij, I can say this. He has remained exactly as he is known to be. Everyone has heard about his cigarette in the face, f***-f*** from Vitaliy Volodymyrovych, I have nothing to add.
— And what about those legendary training sessions with Kvarcyanij and no less legendary runs in bulletproof vests?
— Yes, it happened, it happened. We sewed sand into our vests, but we were not stupid either. Those same Vasya Sachko, Vova Hashchyn... No one canceled the scissors. (Smiles). We cut the vest, the sand spilled out — we ran on.
— At that time at Volyn, you got to play with the very young Yevhen Khacheryidi — a future main defender of Dynamo and the Ukrainian national team. Did he already have a tough character back then?
— Khacheryidi was as he is, and has remained. I’ll tell you one story.
Once we arrived to play in Cherkasy: it had been raining for three days, the pitch was a swamp. Khacheryidi had torn, ripped boots, had no studs. Kvarcyanij calls him and says: “Zhenya, the game is at 5 PM. Here’s 300 dollars, go buy yourself boots at the market.” He replies: “Okay.” And here Khacheryidi goes with Kvarcyanij's assistant — Stepan Stepanovych Pavlov — to the bazaar. They walk, choose boots, look and look. And here Khacheryidi tells Pavlov: “Stepanych, f*** those boots. B***h, look how cool that cap is, buy me that cap.” I don’t know what they eventually bought him, but such a story definitely happened. (Smiles).
— And how did Khacheryidi adjust to your team?
— I remember that Khacheryidi got beaten in the shower. Zhenya behaved a bit ugly at that time. He was brought to me from Melitopol, and the oddball received a bunch of yellow cards in three games... Although as a player he was very cool.
I have another illustrative story about Zhenya. Under Blokhin at Dynamo, everyone had to train in shin guards. Anyone training without them had a 100-dollar fine. Khacheryidi came out to training and Blokhin asked him: “Where are your shin guards?” He replied: “I don’t have them.” Oleg Volodymyrovych immediately: “100 dollars fine.” And here Zhenya from his pocket pulls out 100 dollars and hands it to Blokhin. Well, that’s the kind of person he is.
— In that same Volyn, you coincided with Marko Devych, who in the future became one of the best forwards in the Ukrainian championship. What are your impressions of playing with him?
— Marko is a professional. I remember we played with him in Volyn. I don’t know how, but even back then Devych managed to find himself a fitness trainer, he trained on his own at home. Then he went to Metalist, and you know the rest.
“After the victory over Lviv, the Carpathians players were accused of helping the Donetsk team”
— After Volyn, you moved to Karpaty, where in the 2008/09 season you played under Oleh Kononov.
— First, I went for a trial at Alchevsk Stal, which was led by Anatoliy Ivanovych Volobuyev, and the team was playing in the First League. I trained with them for a week, but no one told me anything specific. I got upset with everyone, packed my things, didn’t tell anyone anything and went home.
And then halfway to Kyiv, the goalkeeping coach Volodymyr Bohdanovych Vasyutyk, with whom I had previously worked in Zakarpattya, called me and said: “How do you see trying out at Karpaty? We need an experienced goalkeeper just in case.” Just in case... I replied: “No problem, I’m currently without a team.” I drove another 100 kilometers, and Yury Dyachuk-Stavytskyi called me and said: “Come, let’s talk.”
I arrived and saw that there were young goalkeepers there, Bohdan Kogut, who currently plays for Верес, and Andrii Novak — at that moment, boys from U-19, who were much younger than me. I was in shape, so I had two training sessions with Karpaty, and they signed a contract with me. That’s how I became a player for Karpaty.
— And how about the president of the Lviv team?
— There were meetings with Dyminskyi, but they were purely work-related matters.
— In Karpaty you were the main goalkeeper. Did you have positive memories of that season?
— I remember that season very well, it was bright. At that time, Shakhtar lost to Lviv (0:2), after which they drew with Karpaty (1:1).
— And why, despite all this positive experience, did you not continue your career in Karpaty?
— Because I “lowered” Lviv into the First League. (Smiles). How? In the last round, I saved a penalty from Hryhoriy Baranets, we won 2:1. In a parallel match, Tavriya played against Illychivets, which was also in the relegation zone. There Marіupol lost 2:3, but due to Lviv’s loss, they remained in the UPL. For Lviv, just drawing against us would have been enough to stay in elite football. But you understand, Lviv and Karpaty — it’s a derby.
After that match, I couldn’t leave the city for two days, they wouldn’t let me pass. Why? As they said back then, “left the Donetsk people in the Premier League.” All of Ukraine thought that the “Karpaty” would drop the game to keep another Lviv team in the UPL. But to understand, before the game with Lviv, Dyminskyi came to the pre-match briefing and said: “If you defeat Lviv, I forgive everything and return all debts.”
— So, it turns out you had to leave Karpaty due to the negativity from the Lviv public?
— You could say that. Look, the day after the game with Lviv, we gathered in the city center for a banquet from where the bus was supposed to leave. Everyone cursed us, spat at the bus, said: “You helped the Donetsk team!” I remember an old man with a cane, barely moving, but once — and he hit the bus with that stick...
“The 0:9 loss to Dynamo? Some players of Illychivets simply ‘flooded’ Blyznyuk”
— From 2009 to 2011 you played for Illychivets, and immediately, the match against Dynamo at the Lobanovsky stadium comes to mind, when your team lost 0:9. How did you experience that defeat, what happened in the locker room afterwards?
— There were some footballers who “flooded” the head coach Illya Blyznyuk. What exactly didn’t they like? Where did Blyznyuk play? Right — at Dynamo. And we had a few players from Shakhtar who stirred the waters in the team. They were the ones who “flooded” Blyznyuk. Let me explain why.
We had lost at home to Metalist (1:4), and these players blamed the Kyivans — I mean myself, Chuchman, Kozyr, Blyznyuk — for throwing the game to the Kharkiv team. Today I know that they intentionally set that up. Those Shakhtar players deliberately “let the game out” against Dynamo, so that Blyznyuk would lose his job.
— That means their plan worked because in the next round, Illychivets took to the field with a new coach.
— You see, Blyznyuk resigned. After 0:9, anyone would resign. Although the late Boyko — president of Illychivets — said that he had no complaints and said to Blyznyuk: “Lost 0:9 — f*** it. What difference does it make, 0:1 or 0:9, let him work.” But Blyznyuk left all the same. In the next round, the team was led by Volkov, and we crushed Donetsk Metalurh (3:0). Who was in the lineup? Right, Romanenko. (Smiles).
— Your last club in your career was Poltava. One of the teams known not so much for its achievements but for its notorious president Leonid Sobolev, who eventually closed his football project.
— I know that Sobolev lives today in the Russian Surgut, so you can say whatever you want about him. However, when I played for Poltava, I saw that he really loved football.
Why he ended this project — I don’t understand. They say it’s because he wasn’t allowed to play at his home stadium. How it really was — I don’t know.
Were there any rumors in the team regarding his past? The past is such a thing. What do footballers care about the most? Let wages be paid on time, let living conditions be good, and let some life moments be resolved — that was all with Sobolev.
— After playing in Poltava, were there offers from other teams?
— Come on, I was 37 years old, what offers could there be? I’ve traveled all over Ukraine during my career, I couldn’t sit in one place. (Smiles).
“During the game in Moscow, several 'migalok' accompanied us, but that didn’t stop the Russians from breaking the windows of our bus”
— Which club in your career can you call the main one?
— The main team in my life is Dynamo, no matter how you look at it. I’ve been in the structure of this club since I was seven and I still continue to work there. The warmest memories remain from playing for Karpaty and Illychivets.
— You started playing at the end of the 90s, you witnessed the flourishing of the UPL with top teams and legionnaires. Can you single out players with the most unpleasant shot against you?
— Zhazha Coelho from Metalist was unpleasant. He gave me trouble, but he didn’t score any goals against me (in fact, Zhazha scored thrice against him in three matches, — ed. “UF”). From Dynamo — that’s Aliyev, who also didn’t score against me in open play, even though he had a fierce shot.
— Aliyev, it seems, still has that shot.
— No way, where can that be? He hits from the center to the goal on the second try. (Smiles).
— You also played for the youth national team of Ukraine and were listed for the match against Russia U-21 in Moscow in 1999. What memories do you have of that trip?
— Against Russia, the goalkeeper of the youth team was Perkhun, and we lost 0:2 at Dynamo Stadium in Moscow. The next day, the national team played against the Russians at Luzhniki, we were at that game and felt the legendary goal of Shevchenko.
— What was the atmosphere like at Luzhniki back then?
— It was hell... The score on the scoreboard was 0:1, our youth team was being taken out of the stadium towards the end of the game, and when we were already on the stairs, Shevchenko scores. And so these “Luzhniki” see us and start throwing everything that comes to hand. We were not hard to recognize, because the entire youth team was dressed in blue-yellow uniforms with “Ukraine” written on the back. It really was hell…
And after the game, when we were taken out, we waited for the first team to board the plane for another hour. By the way, when we were heading to the game for the youth team, we were accompanied by several “migalok”, but that didn’t stop the Russians from breaking a couple of windows on our bus.
“Perkhun is a gem, and no one stood close to Shovkovskiy”
— I’m interested in your opinion of the goalkeeping abilities of Serhiy Perkhun, who at one time was predicted a bright future but tragically passed away after a fatal collision with Budun Budunov.
— He was a very cool goalkeeper — a true gem. Perkhun belongs to the cohort of goalkeepers like Shovkovskiy. Even Pyatov, I cannot call him like that. Serhiy was a decent person; we communicated well.
— I wanted to talk to you about Dynamo goalkeepers since you are a graduate of this club. Who was at one time the closest to displacing Oleksandr Shovkovskiy from the main squad?
— No one. You see, Shovkovskiy played not because he is a legend, but because he is strong. No one stood next to him.
— At the end of the 2000s, Maxim Koval was given a lot of credit, whom Dynamo bought from Zaporizhzhia Metalurh...
— Why was he bought by Dynamo? Because Shovkovskiy was injured. That’s all.
— But Koval started off well at Dynamo. What went wrong later? I heard he had some serious problems controlling his emotions.
— Yes, it was so. He broke the bars, cut mannequins with studs, in short, showed nerves. Maks got it wrong, so who is to blame? Of course, the mannequin. So, he is cutting that mannequin with studs...
Did Koval possess serious goalkeeping traits? No.
— Can we say that Georgiy Bushchan became a full-fledged successor to Shovkovskiy in Dynamo’s goal? After all, Koval and Artur Rud’ko didn’t take advantage of their opportunities.
— Bushchan — yes. There were moments with Rud’ko. When he began to panic, he immediately threw the ball, something else. In short... I’d say today Bushchan is like half of the second Shovkovskiy.
“Shovkovskiy is a good coach, and Lucescu squeezed all juices out of the Dynamo players”
— There is an opinion that goalkeepers very rarely become quality head coaches. Can we say that the example of Shovkovskiy disproves this stereotype? What do you think of Dynamo’s performances under his leadership?
— Look, under Lucescu, the Dynamo players worked in the gym for two hours a day on strength. Mircea squeezed all the juices out of the players — all that could be. I am now communicating with Slavyk Surkis, and he says Shovkovskiy has diversity in the training process. For example, today strength, tomorrow — speed, and the day after that — nothing at all.
I believe that Shovkovskiy is a very good coach. The game of Dynamo has changed compared to what it was in the last years under Lucescu. I really like the current Dynamo’s game, but at the level of the Ukrainian championship. In European cups, the team also looked well but failed to get the result.
— Will Dynamo return the championship trophy to Kyiv in 2025?
— I wouldn’t predict that Dynamo would become champion. It has already been f***ed up, where at first it was +18 in the table, and then -10. So we will live — we will see.
— What do you say about the goalkeeping issue in the national team of Ukraine? Who do you prefer from the quartet Trubin, Lunin, Riznyk, Bushchan?
— Lunin and Trubin play in Europe — every match is like against Barcelona for them. They are the two first numbers on the national team. Riznyk plays in the Champions League once a week, and Bushchan — in the Europa League. They are also good goalkeepers, but Trubin has regular practice playing at a high level. So I’d say that now Trubin and Lunin are the main competitors for the starting spot in the national team, Riznyk is third, and Bushchan is fourth because he has played in the Europa League (we'll see how it goes with Saudi Arabia).
“I would name Kononov as the best coach, but he is a p***k”
— I would like to end our conversation with a blitz.
— No questions, let's go.
— The best head coach you have worked with?
— I would name Kononov, but he is a p***k (ex-coach of Karpaty turned out to be a fervent supporter of the Russian Federation and Putin, ed. — “UF”).
— The best goalkeeping coach in your career?
— Mykhailov.
— The strongest player you have played with?
— Leonenko.
— The strongest player you have played against?
— Fernandinho.
— What are you most proud of in your own career?
— That I have been in football since I was seven.
— To what percentage have you realized your potential?
— 80%.
— Would you change anything in your career if you had the opportunity?
— I wouldn’t change anything.
— And finally — your message for young footballers.
— Remove your phones and play street football.
Vladyslav Liutostansk
Vsevolod Romanenko
