On May 14 at 18:30 in Zhytomyr, the final of the Ukrainian Cup between “Shakhtar” and “Dynamo” will begin. Former forward of the Ukrainian national team Ivan Hetko shared what he expects from the participants of the next domestic Classic:
Ivan Hetko— Of course, I hope that the match in Zhytomyr will be a highlight of the current season and will be long remembered by the fans. There are grounds for this, as, according to the standards of Ukrainian football, the finalist teams have gathered decent players.
— Do you agree that “Shakhtar” must definitely win today, otherwise the season might turn out to be a failure?
— You are right, and therefore, in my opinion, the “miners” will be more motivated in Zhytomyr. It is also important that “Shakhtar” can use its fighting squad, timely was the return of goalkeeper Riznyk, defender Matviyenko, midfielder Sudakov. They are core players, although much will depend on what physical shape they are in.
— It feels like you rate the chances of “Shakhtar” higher.
— Still, in my opinion, the individual skill of most “miners” is higher and this should make a difference. The only thing is they should not concede first, because the current version of “Shakhtar” does not always manage to come back when it needs to.
— And the fact that “Shakhtar” is performing unconvincingly in the UPL and that this might be one of the last matches under the guidance of Marino Pusic could somehow affect the course of events in Zhytomyr?
— I don’t think so, firstly, these are different tournaments, secondly, in cup competitions — there are its own laws, and the Donetsk team has previously shown character when in overtime they defeated “Alexandria” and “Polissya.” Just to clarify, for victory they needed just one scored goal.
— And will the effectiveness be higher today?
— There is a feeling that it will be, because there are enough scorers in the lineups of the finalists. I think that they won’t reach such a scoring spectacle as in the recent clash of Spanish giants — “Barcelona” and “Real,” but one can count on three goals. “Shakhtar” will score one more goal.
Andriy Pysarenko
