On Saturday, March 29, in the match of the 22nd round of the Ukrainian championship, Kyiv’s “Dynamo” defeated Lviv’s “Rukh” away with a score of 2:0. Your attention is drawn to the post-match press conference of the head coach of the capital team Oleksandr Shovkovskyi.
— In the first round, you played to a 0:0 draw with “Rukh”. So does this mean you rehabilitated for that result today?
— First of all, I congratulate all “Dynamo” fans on the victory. As for your question, we were not going out to take revenge or to rehabilitate but to play and solve our tasks: now every match is very important for us. This game turned out to be quite challenging, especially considering that many of our players were called up to national teams. During this time, we trained with only 10 field players but brought in young guys from “Dynamo U-19” so they could feel the atmosphere of the first team and understand the existing requirements. That’s how we prepared for today’s game.
We gathered in full only on the 27th. Therefore, today’s game was very difficult. So I’m grateful to the players for giving their all on the field and for executing the instructions we had for this match. Basically, we controlled the course of the game and could have made the score larger, but in the end, the victory is 2:0.
Oleksandr Shovkovskyi. Photo — A. Popov— Today, Bujalskyi played his 350th match for “Dynamo”. You have 673 matches for the team. Is 350 a lot?
— A lot, a little... One can play for quantity, or one can play for quality. I have never counted how many matches I played. For me, each next game was the most important. With that mindset, I prepared. The experience of matches should be a burden. But to be convincing, one must first win against oneself in each training session. We all make plans for tomorrow, but it’s the one who acts today that wins.
I am happy for Vitaliy. God willing, he will become the best player in the history of “Dynamo” in terms of the number of matches played. I will be glad if his actions benefit the team.
— Already on Wednesday, “Dynamo” has another match with “Rukh” — in the quarterfinals of the Ukrainian Cup. How will this match differ from today’s?
— For us, every game now feels like a cup match. So we are preparing. The most important match is the next one. With that mindset, we will prepare. In optimal composition, in optimal shape. And, of course, with the mindset only for victory.
— What is the condition of Brazhko after the story with the failed transfer to the EPL and after he did not receive a call-up to the national team of Ukraine for the March matches? Is he ready to play?
— He is ready to play. He would have played today on the field under different circumstances. He played on the 25th for the youth national team of Ukraine, then traveled back to Ukraine, after which he prepared only on the 27th and 28th. And then to play on the 29th — this is very complicated. But Brazhko would have gone on the field today if not for the forced substitution due to the injury that Denys Popov received. So he is in good condition and is preparing for each match.
The post-match press conference of the head coach of “Rukh”, Vitaliy Ponomaryov.
Oleksandr POPOV from Lviv
