- You used to play under the charge of great Valeriy Lobanovskyi? How did he motivate the team before decisive games? What was so special about his words or actions that made players become a sole team and fight European top clubs?
- The team got motivated at once when he entered the locker-room (smiling). His charisma had great impact on players. Personally I didn’t need him to tell me anything as I saw it all in his eyes. When I didn’t work properly he told me, but he didn’t yell. When he was sitting on the bench we felt his presence and played both for fans and for him.
- Would his methods be effective today?
- There wasn’t much special about his methods. He was a human being, but had a lot of good qualities. He was a great psychologist, who could find words for every player. You know that there were a lot of performers on the team in 1998-1999. Lobanovskyi used to say: “Take as many players as possible and I’ll deal with them. Those who survive will form the team. The rest will leave”. Such approach is good for ambitious teams.
- What was the biggest shock in your career – defeat against Bayern Munich in the Champions League semifinals or failure against Slovenia?
- I remember a lot of failures, like defeats against Croatia in 1997 and against Slovenia in 1999. We lacked a small final step. Anyway, I don’t regret anything. I’ve had good football life as a player and now I like being a coach. We should live for today, but analyze our mistakes not to repeat them.
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