Before the 2026 World Cup qualifier match between France and Ukraine, Kyiv «Dynamo» versatile player Oleksandr Karavayev gave an extensive interview to the YouTube channel «Vzbirna».
Oleksandr Karavayev— Well, first of all, congratulations on returning to the national team. Your last call-up was in October 2023. What were your emotions after returning, when you heard and saw your name on the call-up list?
— Thank you very much. Well, of course, it’s joy. But if I’m not mistaken, the last call-up to the team wasn’t in October — October was just the last game. I was also there in November and then again in 2024, in March, when we were getting ready for Euro 2024, but I didn’t play then.
Of course, after that moment, it was hard to perceive that you stopped playing for the national team since I played continuously for many years, and there were a lot of positive emotions. But I accepted it; I understand, as they say, age is moving on. Still, I feel inside that I can still give a lot on the football field, which is why I renewed my contract with «Dynamo» and set one of the targets — to return to the national team. I understood that if I did everything right on the field and produced results, I would surely draw the attention of the national team’s coaches again.
— Did you have thoughts at that moment, maybe it was over for the national team? Or were you still waiting for the call-up?
— Of course, I understood everything. There’s big competition in the national team now, more than half the team are players from top leagues, which only increases competition: the guys play at a high level in top leagues against the best players in the world, and of course, they have a different level.
There’s a very good example. When I was already playing for the national team, Sanya Zinchenko debuted then. It was already visible that, although he played little for «Manchester City» then, he stood out in training. And now all the guys play at such a level. And, of course, it shows all our young players that there’s a great chance to get into the best leagues in the world and play at a high level, that everything is possible, you just need to want it.
— You are now the oldest in the team. What are your thoughts on this? What are you feelings?
— Still positive feelings. In the last five years, the national team has raised the bar very high. Many players perform at a high level, and to get here, you need to achieve a lot. And not only on the field — it also means achievements, getting into the strongest leagues.
I don’t think my age is such that I need to retire. On the contrary, if you take Italy, Serie A: there, 33 years is the prime! This championship is famous for having many older players playing and playing at a decent level.
— You played 49 matches for the national team. The next one will be the 50th. Have you thought about it?
— I’ve thought about it, but not focused on it. In life, everything always happens as it should. If it should be that I play 50 matches or more for the national team, then so be it. If not — well, then not.
I think I’ve played many matches for the national teams of different age categories, and I played at a decent level. Played in all tournaments except the World Cup. And, of course, that is also a goal and a dream to achieve. So maybe everything was meant to come together.
— You jokingly complained that the only downside of a call-up to the national team is that you won’t see your family now because the travels are constant. How do you balance such a schedule, finding time for family and loved ones?
— There’s always positive moments, there are negative moments, and you always want to immediately overshadow any negative with positives, so you don’t think about them anymore. When I regularly played in the national team, went to the national team, of course, a downside was not seeing the family, but I immediately overshadowed it with a positive moment that you are going to the national team, you play against top teams at a high level, and you’ve aimed for this your whole life. So that’s a positive moment.
There was a period when I didn’t go to the national team. That was a downside because I also wanted to play, understood that I could contribute to the national team and could play, but overshadowed it with a positive: I was with my family.
This is perhaps such a balance. It can’t always be all bad or all good. So I always try to take the best and most positive. It’s easier to live that way.
— You said you love making goal assists. What gives you more emotions: a goal or a successful assist?
— Well, of course, a goal is a goal. Any goal is a positive moment because you put an end to some combination. And when you make an assist, it’s like some elegance, I think. Especially if it’s difficult to execute, or when you «roll out» your teammate on an open goal. You need to have the ability to assist. And when you bring such positive emotions to someone, you rejoice even more.
For me, a constant example will be when I scored in my last match for the national team, against North Macedonia: just look at the replay, how the boys ran towards me to celebrate, especially Mykolenko, Zabarnyi, Sydorchuk, Matviyenko. That is, you understand it’s already the 95th minute, you understand how much energy the boys spent, and you see how they run to you. It’s an incredible surge of emotions. This is real football when they celebrate such moments. Now, in these matches, such goals are very needed. I’ve planned them for myself. I always plan. Let’s see, maybe someone else will do it.
— They call you a versatile player, but how do you feel yourself? Where on the field are you most comfortable?
— Honestly, it doesn’t matter anymore. I remember myself at 19: the guys who were 30−32 said that if they had our brains, we would all be at a high level. Now you see football completely differently, you make decisions completely differently. And in my case, you could say, it’s a «white envy» to Iliukha Zabarnyi: his footballing brain at 18−19 years old thinks as many do at 30−32. I consider him a unique player who makes decisions on the field that young players do not make.
So I’m comfortable in any position. It is shown in matches. In the mentioned match with North Macedonia, I was put in to play on the left for 10 minutes, and managed to score. So the head coach felt that. And I understand that any position should be played.
Once, I came to the national team, when it was coached by Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko, and he told me that in the midfield, it would be almost impossible for me to play on the right side. I said: «I understand.» There Yarmolenko was in the prime of his career, Tsyhankov was coming up, and Marlos was there too. I understood I couldn’t compete because these were legends of our football. And Shevchenko said that there is a position of right-back. I said: «No problem, this position suits me.» I got very used to playing it and know how to take advantage of some free space on the field to realize myself.
— Actually, my next question was just about whether you could play on the left in midfield, as was the case against North Macedonia?
— No problem. As I said, I played left-back under Lucescu at «Dynamo.» And when I was still at «Zorya,» I played in any position. I remember the words of my coaches: they always said that to bring more benefit to the team and to play constantly, you need to be versatile. You need to be able to use both the right foot and the left foot, play both on the right and the left side. Then the coach will have a headache about where to put you to be useful on the field. Either coming off the bench or in the starting lineup, but you will always be needed by the team. So I think that when you are a versatile player, it only benefits you.
— Now, by names, is the Ukrainian national team the strongest, do you think?
— It’s hard to say because the guys are all still young, and many have great prospects. In terms of perspective, I believe many can become much more renowned than they have ever been because they all play in top leagues. Although, looking back five-six years, when Yarmolenko, Konoplyanka, Stepanenko, and Tsygankov played, they were all renowned players, but not all of them played in top clubs. So it’s hard to compare.
And I love to compare when one generation has passed, then another, and so you compare generations by result. Therefore, right now, I don’t want to compare. But I see how our young generation is developing, and it could be top-level. I wish that they completely all reveal themselves. They now need, more than anything, support from all sides — both from footballers and experts, journalists, so that everyone is united. Then, I think everyone will reveal themselves to the maximum.
— Let’s talk about the upcoming matches. We played great against Iceland in October and won. How can this be repeated in the home game? And what mistakes from the first match with France should be considered to stay in contention this time?
— Still, all thoughts will be about France because it is the main match since it’s the next one. It has always been and will be. Of course, first of all, we need to analyze how we played before and keep the good moments we had and use them. And from the negative moments, draw conclusions and not repeat them.
Also, everyone understands that the French team is top-level. Always has been, always will be. But every team has its negative moments that can be taken advantage of. So I’m sure that our coaching staff has been preparing, reviewing our matches, looking at how the French team played, and they will tell us how we can best play to take advantage of those moments to our benefit. And I’m sure there will be opportunities. We just need to make use of them.
