Former midfielder of Kyiv’s Dynamo, Florin Cernat, reminisced about a period of his career that took place in the Ukrainian club.
Florin Cernat«The offer from Kyiv’s 'Dynamo' came after I played for the Romanian youth team in a match against Poland. Following that game, I traveled to Kyiv and immediately signed the contract (Cernat transferred to Kyiv’s 'Dynamo' from 'Dynamo' Bucharest in 2001, — ed. note). When I joined 'Dynamo', it felt like I entered another world. The training base with six fields, two club buses, two planes.
But initially, it was very difficult without knowing the language. It took me about a year and a half to start communicating normally. It was a very challenging period. I didn’t know the language, I didn’t have friends, Tibi (Tiberiu Ghioane, another Romanian legionnaire of 'Dynamo', — ed. note) arrived at 'Dynamo' only six months after my transfer. I was alone, talking a lot on the phone with family and friends in Romania.
The salary at Kyiv’s 'Dynamo' was seven times higher than what I had at Bucharest’s 'Dynamo'. And it increased year by year. I don’t remember how much they paid me—probably because the most important thing for me back then was to join this club. I had heard a lot about 'Dynamo', I knew that at that time, they and Moscow’s 'Spartak' played in the Champions League for 14 consecutive years. I wanted to play in the Champions League. And I played many matches in that tournament.
Regarding career continuation options when I played at 'Dynamo', I know there was an offer from 'Bayern', and I was aware of the interest from 'Ajax' and 'Juventus'. But 'Dynamo' said that the transfer fee offered was too low. If they were to sell, it would be for a lot of money. 'Milan' initially offered 15 million dollars for Shevchenko, and Lobanovsky said that was too little. They eventually sold him for 25 million. Six months after his departure, I arrived and witnessed the moment when Kaladze was sold to 'Milan' for 15 million dollars.
Parting with 'Dynamo' began when the head coach of the team became Semin, a Russian coach. Six Ukrainians had to play in the Ukrainian championship. Semin talked to me and immediately said it would be tough for me to make the squad and that it was better to look for options in Europe. The president of 'Dynamo' did not agree with my departure, but I wanted to play. Then came an offer from 'Hajduk', and I moved to that club on loan for the season. When I returned to 'Dynamo', Semin was still with the team, so I played little. Eventually, I made my position clear to the club that after eight years here, I wanted a change, and ultimately, I transferred to 'Hajduk' on a permanent basis (in 2009, — ed. note). They very much wanted to have me.
Lobanovsky? He was very strict. Discipline was paramount to him. If you didn’t follow his instructions on the field, you immediately sat on the bench.
Lobanovsky rarely laughed, I think I saw it only once. He had a very good staff, among the assistants were well-known names: Kuznetsov, Mikhailichenko, Demyanenko. He used to present the training plan in advance but didn’t personally come down to it. He had his own room upstairs and watched the training from the balcony», — reports Fanatik quoting Cernat.
Translation and stylistic adaptation — Dynamo.kiev.ua, when using the material hyperlink required!
