The former goalkeeper of Kyiv’s Dynamo, Oleksiy Shevchenko, recalled the period of his career at the capital club (2013−2015).
Oleksiy Shevchenko— You were born in Dnipro, but you didn’t play a single match for local teams. Why is that?
— I was invited to Zaporizhzhia at 14. In Dnipro, I trained at the «Inter» school. Many times I was offered to join the «Dnipro» academy. Ruslan Babenko called me about this, but I couldn’t leave my first coach, so I ended up in Zaporizhzhia’s «Metallurg».
When I debuted in Zaporizhzhia, the general director of «Dnipro», Andriy Stetsenko, was looking for my number to invite me to «Dnipro», but I chose «Dynamo».
— Why?
— At that time, Boyko left «Dynamo» and Kyiv was generally a priority for me.
— You didn’t play a single match for «Dynamo»?
— Not a single one. I trained with the first team, played for the reserve. Then I went (on loan, — ed.) to «Hoverla», «Olympic», where I didn’t play at all. I spent some time in Georgia.
At «Dynamo», they started putting Rybka in the starting lineup, even though he hadn’t played football at all for two years. He turned out to be needed by «Dynamo», and I didn’t. I also didn’t suit Rebrov: my height was insufficient, there were some other reasons. I went to Surkis and asked to leave. And then at «Zorya», I started playing regularly after Mykyta Shevchenko left.
— Did you often communicate with Ihor Surkis?
— I communicated for the first time when signing the preliminary contract with «Dynamo», and that’s where I met the two Surkis brothers at the «Olympic». They told me: «Shovkovskyi is finishing his career, Boyko left, you will compete with Maksym Koval for the starting position». In the end, «SaSho» played for another 7 years. (Smiles).
Sergiy Mokhnyk (deputy general director of Dynamo, — ed.) said that many goalkeepers «died» under Shovkovskyi. Surkis replied to him: «How can we refuse him? He constantly asks to extend the contract for another year. After all, he is a legend!». Why then sign young goalkeepers if they will not play? I still don’t understand.
Ihor Lysenko
