Dynamo Kyiv midfielder Oleksandr Karavayev summed up yesterday’s match of his team against Cherkasy’s LNZ (0:1) in the 12th round of the Ukrainian championship.
—Of course, the emotions are negative because we lost. Although I wouldn’t say it was about the play. Yes, LNZ defended very well. Everyone knows that Vitaliy Ponomaryov’s teams play one-on-one and are very well physically prepared.
It was naturally difficult, but at times we overcame the opponent’s defense, had chances, but didn’t capitalize on them. One such moment at the end of the first half, right in the last seconds, of course, threw us off a bit. We went into the second half with the mindset to win. There were moments, but it happened like that... We need to draw conclusions and be better prepared for the next matches.
— Again, there’s this dissonance — 6:0 in the European competitions and now 0:1 in the championship. It turns out that the championship is often much tougher..
— It happens indeed because the opponents are different. Moreover, in European competitions, the teams are also playing in the championship, playing on the international stage on the third day after every other game, so they have less time to prepare. And LNZ prepared for us the whole week. Of course, they were better physically prepared, although we weren’t lacking in anything. We just need to make use of our chances.
— Now there’s a break for national team matches, and Oleksandr Karavayev has been called up to Ukraine’s national team. It’s already been calculated that 749 days have passed since your last match for the «yellow-blue». What are your feelings about being back in the country’s main team?
— Of course, it’s positive emotions because you’re returning to the national team after some time. It means I’m playing steadily at one level. Sometimes a bit better, sometimes worse, but I’m trying to keep myself in shape. There are good moments, so probably that’s why I got called up to the national team. So, I am always ready, waited for it, and we’ll go for the result.
— There was a two-year pause between your national team call-ups. When there were national team matches and you stayed at home, what was it like then, and how will the training process be different now?
— Firstly, when the national team gets together, players not going to the national team have a pause, three to four days to rest. And of course, you spend this time with your family. It’s positive energy and emotions. Now it’s different — I’m immediately going to the national team kit presentation and then from there to the station, so I can’t even drop by home. That’s the only major negative moment.