On Sunday, November 9, in a home match of the 12th round of the Ukrainian championship, Kyiv’s «Dynamo» lost to Cherkasy’s LNZ by a score of 0:1. The match took place in Kyiv at the «Dynamo» Stadium named after Valeriy Lobanovskyi. Here is the post-match press conference of the capital team’s head coach, Oleksandr Shovkovskyi.
— If I’m not mistaken, this was Dynamo’s first match of the season without a single goal-scoring opportunity. What is this related to? Fatigue, the difficulties of travel, something else?
— You correctly noted that we have a very busy schedule. I can state that we lacked freshness and emotions. We had a tense period during which we played four tough matches in a mode of two days of rest followed by a match, then three days of rest followed by another match — this pertains to recovery. Plus, there were logistical issues. Of course, this couldn’t help but affect our performance today.
Moreover, we played against one of the most organized defensive teams, which is among those that have conceded the fewest goals in the ongoing Ukrainian championship. LNZ conducts confident defense, combining it with quick counterattacks. We drew the team’s attention to this during preparation for today’s match, but unfortunately, we conceded a goal at the end of the first half from one of these counterattacks.
— With all due respect, do you feel internally that you can no longer contribute anything new to this team?
— With all due respect to you, what I have inside will always remain inside. Throughout my football career, I never disclosed my feelings. This only happened after, for example, the end of my playing career.
— What happened to Yarmolenko? How serious is his injury?
— I will receive information about this in the coming days, but it’s impossible to comment on it now. Yarmolenko experienced discomfort, which only intensified during the game, prompting him to request a substitution.
— How would you rate the refereeing in today’s match?
— I will not shift the situation of the match result onto the referee’s actions. Although, of course, one can view this from different angles. Indeed, based on the game, we did not earn a victory today. That’s certain. I’m not sure we deserved a loss, but that’s another question.
Expect the post-match press conference of LNZ head coach Vitaliy Ponomaryov a bit later...
Oleksandr POPOV from the «Dynamo» Stadium named after Valeriy Lobanovskyi