Kyiv Dynamo goalkeeper Ruslan Nescheret summed up yesterday’s match against Bosnian Zrinjski (6:0) in the 3rd round of the main stage of the Conference League.
Ruslan Nescheret. Photo — Yu. Yuriev— Zrinjski had a positive run in the championship before this match, they weren’t losing, were playing really well, and weren’t conceding much. In your opinion, did they manage to surprise you?
— Well, I wouldn’t say they’re a bad team. It’s just that when we’re fired up a hundred percent, when we can, so to speak, do everything we want and have to do — the scoreboard shows it. I believe it’s good that today we turned around, you might say, both our own series and perhaps their winning streak. I believe we are on the right track.
— In the first 10 minutes, it felt like the opponent was about to score. Zrinjski had several sharp moments. What happened to your team? Did you fail to adjust?
— Those were more half-chances, you know. Perhaps it was some kind of concentration issue, we came out to play a bit cautiously. We played cautiously and could have conceded, of course. But, thank God, it didn’t happen today.
— Before this, you lost two matches in the Conference League, couldn’t score. Did that weigh heavily on the team? And how did the team handle the criticism from fans who came at you with hate for such results?
— The criticism is indeed constructive. Judging by the results, we played very poorly. And I believe we had to prove today that those results were, so to say, a fluke. So today I’m very pleased with the team as a whole and the actions we performed.
— Before this, there was a game with Shakhtar, and it turned out to be quite emotional. Did the «miners» provoke you during and after the match? Was there no desire today to rehabilitate and demonstrate that it was also a fluke?
— That match is, you could say, in the past. It’s a shame to lose like that. There was a controversial episode. That’s already a game in the past, so we wanted to show ourselves today. We prepared very purposefully for this game. I believe we prepared very well for the match. And here’s the result.
— Upcoming matches of the Ukrainian national team against France and Iceland in the World Cup 2026 qualifying tournament. In your opinion, what will be the results of the national team? Will it be possible to take second place?
— Of course, I would like our national team to make it to the World Cup. I will only support them, root for our guys. And I only wish them victory.
— Will we catch scoring points with the French?
— Well, why not? I mean, we did catch them once.
Andrey VITRENKO
