FC Dynamo Kyiv head coach Oleksandr Shovkovskyi answered media questions before the Champions League 3rd qualifying round first leg against Rangers FC.
- What do you expect of the game against Rangers? Who’s their major dangerman?
- First of all I’m glad to see you all in Poland. Unfortunately it’s not our home ground, but you know the situation in our country, where the war continues, so we have to play in Lublin. I would like to thank this city and its citizens, who do their best to make us feel welcome here.
The team we’ll face in the Champions League 3rd qualifying round has great history. Although Rangers faced some issues of the last couple of decades, they managed to come back to the top league, win the national title, Scottish Cup and League Cup. They’re on the way back to their glorious traditions. We’re looking forward to this duel of two different football cultures. We’ve analyzed Rangers. One can expect danger from their forwards, who’re great at finishing, and from wingers. They’re experienced ambitions team that plays really fast football. The game’s going to be interesting.
- How difficult is it to play home games away, namely in Poland? Do you feel you represent the people of Ukraine?
- You know, a full-scale war has been going on in our country for the third year and it has been going on for 10 years in general. Of course, this implies a lot of negativity, emotions that are simply impossible to get rid of. They still remain in our lives and will probably remain forever. On the other hand, we have the opportunity to give positive emotions to fans, to those people who protect our borders, our homes, do everything possible so that football, as an art, does not disappear in our country. For our part, we want to give nice emotions, because now they are really lacking. And the Olympics, which are taking place in Paris, the performances of our Olympians, the medals they win – all this adds to the belief that despite all these troubles, despite the war that is going on in our country, we will be able to go through this stage, overcome it, endure and win. And it is very important for us to give everyone this support, we don’t separate ourselves from Ukraine and Ukrainians. We work and do everything in our power to show that, despite everything, we will be ready to defend our right on the football field within the framework of Fair Play, fight and strive for victory.
- How is Diachuk doing? What about Tymchyk?
- Unfortunately Maksym is at the hospital in Warsaw. He’s about to undergo a surgery. We wish him all the best. Tymchyk has already rejoined the team, but of course he needs time to recondition.
- Dynamo scored a lot against Partizan, just like the team scored a lot last season. Do you expect to keep it up?
- Of course (smiling). We work a lot on that, do exercises aimed at the players’ goalscoring flair. One needs to be able to fulfil the potential, both individual and of the team.
We communicate a lot with the players, point out tactical aspects, analyze game episodes. There is always room to improve our football. But I always tell my players that it doesn’t matter where they are now. What is important is what you do for it, how much work you have done, what efforts you have spent. It’s important to keep track of not where you are now, but of what you’ve done to get there. If you learn to track exactly this, then you will progress every day and will never stop in your development, both individually and as a team in general.
When getting ready for any match, we focus on how the team played the previous games, which players joined the team, who was subbed in, how they interact on the field. I don’t look at whether we played against anyone or not – it doesn't matter. It is important for me to know what state my team is in and to be able to recognize how the opponent are acting, based on which we get ready for the upcoming game.
