Midfielder "Dynamo" Oleksandr Pikhaliyonok shared his first impressions of the start of the summer camp, as well as talked about changing his playing number.
Oleksandr Pikhaliyonok. Photo: fcdynamo.com— The first day of training camp is behind us. How do you evaluate your condition after two training sessions?
— A bit tired, but that’s normal at camp. Preparations continue, we have a lot of work ahead. We are already looking forward to the friendly matches, as we have missed them.
— It’s hot in Austria right now. How are you coping with the high air temperature?
— To be honest, we thought it would be a bit cooler in Austria. But it seems to be much warmer here than in Kyiv (smiles). For example, today it showed 36−37 degrees in the sun... But this is camp, everything is fine. Regardless of the weather, we need to prepare first for the friendly matches, and then through the sparrings for the official games.
— It’s probably a bit harder for you than for others, since you were in the national team camp. Is there a feeling of fatigue, or on the contrary, even more desire to work?
— I managed to reboot, so I am ready to work. Right now, everyone is a bit tired, but I decided to finish my vacation a bit earlier. Indeed, the players who were in the national team joined later, but I think in a week or ten days we will all be in the same physical condition.
— You chose a new playing number — 8, which was previously held by Shepelev. Why did you choose it?
— I like this number. At "Dnipro-1" I initially played under number 76, and then switched to 8, and I also played under number 8 in youth teams before.
— Some of our subscribers compare you to Andres Iniesta, who also wore the number 8 at "Barcelona"...
— No way, I’m really far from him (smiles).
— And which player would you compare your playing style to?
— It’s hard to say. In Europe, there are world-class footballers playing in top clubs. I liked Toni Kroos, but he has already retired. In general, in every European team, you can highlight someone from the midfield. Right now, I like the trio in the midfield at PSG — Fabiano Ruiz, Ruben Neves, and Vitinha.
