The head coach of Dynamo Kyiv’s U19 team shared his thoughts after his side’s emotional victory over Shakhtar Donetsk in the U19 National League.
– What emotions do you feel after such an intense win?
– Of course, these emotions can’t be compared to anything else. You saw the players’ emotions, our fans’ emotions. A win is a win – three points in our pocket. We’ve closed the gap, now it’s just two points. But there’s still the second half of the season ahead, a long way to go. Guys did great today, they played until the end. We were 2:0 up but conceded twice because of mistakes. Still we scored the winning goal – the first one wasn’t counted but then we scored another, and that one stood. The wind helped a bit but that’s football – luck favors the stronger side.
– Two rounds ago the gap was eight points. But last season Dynamo also had a big deficit and managed to recover in the spring. Is it normal to make up such a difference in youth football?
– Yes, that’s quite normal. Players come to us after the academy and in the first half of the season they’re still adapting – getting used to our demands. At first they didn’t fully understand everything. But closer to the training camp, and especially after it, the team became more balanced. The players understand our tactics and expectations better and there’s more interaction and teamwork now.
– Dynamo once again beat its main rival. How much confidence will this victory give the team before the second leg in the UEFA Youth League?
– Of course, Shakhtar is a key rival. Before the match we told the players it would be a tough game, with provocations. Once again there were some shouts from the stands. We instruct our players not to respond to rudeness or provocations. We prove everything with our play and our results on the pitch, and we try to avoid non-football situations that don’t do the game any good.
– Given how the match unfolded and the disallowed goals, do you think the score difference could have been bigger?
– That’s football. You can always say we could have scored more. Apart from their two goals opponents didn’t create many chances. But whoever scores more – wins. We scored one more goal than they did. We’re used to slightly better-quality pitches – and Shakhtar probably is too – the ball bounced and didn’t roll fast. But conditions were the same for both sides. Guys did well, it was a hard game. Now we’re preparing for the UEFA Youth League. On Sunday we’re already heading off. A tough away match awaits us in Sweden but after this win we’ll travel in good spirits and with positive energy.
– Before the match there was a team huddle. After the final whistle the players also gathered to talk. What was said after the win? Any congratulations?
– No congratulations yet. You don’t need extra motivation for matches like this. You saw the emotions just two days ago when the first team won – and today too, when our goal was disallowed or when we scored, everyone on the bench jumped up. Those emotions are incomparable.
