Former midfielder of the Ukraine national team Serhiy Tkachenko spoke about the motivation of a third party in the Ukrainian championship at the beginning of the 2000s.
Serhiy Tkachenko— The match between Kyiv CSKA and Shakhtar (0:0) in 2001 has been mentioned more than once, in which you essentially blocked the path for the miners to their first championship. What do you remember from that confrontation?
— In that game, I don’t remember why, but I remained as a substitute. What stuck in my memory was Oleksiy Bakharev’s shot in the 89th or 90th minute, when the ball flew just centimeters above the crossbar. My heart sank at that moment. The thing is, we were promised crazy bonuses if CSKA took points from Shakhtar. Fortunately, the match ended in a draw — 0:0.
— And how much did you receive from Dynamo as bonuses back then?
— If I’m not mistaken, it was about $40,000 per person. So everyone went into the game like dogs; no one wanted to lose such money.
— And for the victory over Shakhtar (1:0) in the first round, did Dynamo reward you?
— I clearly remember that the only goal was scored by Serhiy Zakarlyuka, and I can definitely say that we received $5,000 each.
— In some teams, you could play a season and earn less than you did in two matches against Shakhtar. Isn’t that right?
— Quite possible. But at the same time, I think that not every team played in such matches where very large sums were at stake. Believe me, footballers love football, love their work, but we, first of all, play for money.
— And in the 2002/03 season, you with Donetsk Metallurg beat Dynamo and received, as far as I know, large bonuses for it.
— Shakhtar rewarded with $25,000 per person.
— If we are so seriously getting into accounting, can you say what bonuses were generally at Donetsk Metallurg in the early 2000s?
— It was a long time ago. Again, if my memory serves me right, for a home game it was $3,000 in hard currency, for away — $5,000. For matches with Dynamo or Shakhtar, these sums were doubled.
— Already in your first season with Metallurg, you won bronze medals. That was your debut podium. Did the club management reward the team well back then?
— They paid us about $20,000–25,000 each. The same sums were for the first bronze a year earlier, but I wasn’t in the team then.
