The head coach of Donetsk "Shakhtar" Marino Pushich tried to explain his statement regarding his team’s cessation of the fight for gold medals in the Ukrainian championship this season.
Marino Pushich— Mr. Marino, at one point you stated that the fight for the championship was over, then you said not yet. So as of now, April 6, is "Shakhtar" in the game, fighting for the championship?
— I cannot recall those words. Look, I said certain things from a realistic point of view at that moment. But everyone who knows me knows that I am a fighter. I never give up. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have come to Ukraine during such a period if I wasn’t like that. So my team will always fight until the end. That’s for sure. It’s part of my character, and that’s what I always try to convey to my team.
At that time, I was just trying to explain that it would be very difficult. At first, we had wonderful games against "Kryvbas" and "Karpaty", and then we saw how unfair and harsh football can be — we drew. At that moment, we lost our chance to catch the train. It is disappointing. I always say that everything will end when it really ends. Until that moment, you can be sure my team will fight with my spirit until the very end.
