Former footballer of Kyiv’s Dynamo Oleksandr Shcherbakov was one of those who closely followed the twists and turns of the match in Cyprus, where the “white-blues” faced the local Paphos. He shared his impressions from the return leg of the third qualifying round of the Champions League, where Dynamo lost 0:2 and was eliminated from the tournament.
Oleksandr Shcherbakov— How did you react to the defeat?
— Of course, it was a surprise for me that Dynamo could not get past the Cypriot club. However, football is advancing confidently every year, and there, in Cyprus, they have already played well. Moreover, there are many legionnaires in the leading clubs of this country. As for the game itself, it seems there was an underestimation of the opponent from the Dynamo side.
— The underestimation could only have been in the first match, lost to the Cypriots 0:1. In the return match, Dynamo had to solve the task of winning by the required score— that is, by one goal more...
— It is clear that some conclusions needed to be made after the first game. However, there might be other reasons, and the head coach knows best what they are. It’s hard for me from the outside to make any guesses. In any case, it can be assumed that before the two games against Paphos, the Dynamo players were not in the best shape. Perhaps there were mistakes in preparation for the season. I don’t know. It’s hard to say, I can only speculate.
— Are you disappointed?
— Of course. As I said, it was a complete surprise for me. I liked Kyiv’s Dynamo, and I was glad that mostly homegrown players of Ukrainian football are playing in its squad now. So it is clear that I expected something completely different from the return match against Paphos.
— After being eliminated from the Champions League, Dynamo will continue its campaign in the Europa League, where it will face the winner of the pair “Hamrun Spartans” — “Maccabi” (Tel Aviv).
— I think that today all opponents should be treated extremely seriously, and preparations for the matches should be set accordingly. After all, with representatives of any country, there are unlikely to be easy games. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s a club from Israel or the already familiar Maltese “Hamrun Spartans”, the meeting with them should be approached with full responsibility. Everything depends on the guys themselves.
— What do you think the organizational conclusions after yesterday’s fiasco in Cyprus might be?
— I’m sure that some conversation between the Dynamo leadership and the coaching staff and players has already taken place or will take place. That’s a hundred percent. I think there will also be a fine for such a game.
Vyacheslav Kulchytsky
