On Sunday, May 18, in the match of the penultimate, 29th round of the Ukrainian championship, Kyiv’s “Dynamo” played to a 1:1 draw with Odesa’s “Chornomorets” and prematurely secured the gold medals. The match took place in Odesa at the “Chornomorets” stadium. Here is the post-match press conference of the head coach of the “sailors”, Alexander Kuchер.
— It is, of course, difficult to say anything now. Because we understand where we are now. I mean the next season.
I would like to thank the fans for the excellent support of our team today.
As for us, I believe we showed a worthy game against the champion of Ukraine. All the guys gave their all, fought for each other, were one whole. Yes, we could have won. But we could also have lost. One must always accept things as they are. In any case, I am grateful to the guys for today’s match.
— Do you still feel unrealized potential at “Chornomorets”? Are there matches associated with such feelings?
— There are very many such matches. When we gifted points to opponents. We missed goals, created penalties for ourselves, gave the ball away. These matches will always stay inside, they will always haunt me in nightmares.
So the task of maintaining a place in the UPL should have been solved not today, but earlier.
— Was there any fear of the opponent before the match? Or was there more optimism?
— We were настроивались на victory because we understood that everything depended not only on us. This point that we earned today does not help us at all. So we wanted to win. Especially on home ground, with our fans in the stands. It didn’t matter who came to us; our goal was to earn three points.
— What are the plans for the next season?
— I have a contract, and I will fulfill it. But I think there will be a conversation with the club president. When something is known, we will inform you. But so far, there have been no such conversations, so I continue to work with the team.
The post-match press conference of the head coach of “Dynamo” Alexander Shovkovskiy.
Alexander POPOV from Odesa