The goalkeeper of Dynamo Kyiv’s youth team Vyacheslav Surkis spoke about the preparation and expectations ahead of the UEFA Youth League round of 32 match against Atlético Madrid which “White-Blues” will play on Wednesday, February 4.
- This will be a very good experience for us. Some players, like me, are in the team for a second year while others are playing their first year. No matter the opponent’s name, at this stage opponents are always strong. Still we’ve faced good teams in the previous rounds as well. It will be very interesting - we’re preparing, getting mentally ready and we’ll do everything for the win.
- You’re deliberately preparing for a match that, although technically a home game for Dynamo, will be played in Antalya, Turkey. What do you expect from it?
- I can say that we’ll give everything to win and move on - this I can promise you.
- Atlético usually score a lot in their matches. Should we expect a high-scoring game?
- Since I’m a goalkeeper I hope we’ll be productive in attack and keep a clean sheet in defense (smiles).
- Do you feel the team is capable of getting past this opponent and reaching the next round?
- Of course. Everything depends on us. The opponent is indeed very strong. We respect every team we play against, especially in the UEFA Youth League. Atlético Madrid are a giant of European football so I can only express respect. But we are Dynamo Kyiv, and once again, we’ll do everything for the victory. That’s why we came here, prepared for this match, trained twice a day and gave all our strength.
- Can the weather conditions affect the upcoming game?
- I believe whether it’s rain, sun or snow doesn’t matter to us. In matches like this you don’t look at the weather - you just go out on the pitch and give everything. And if it rains, it’s no problem - we’re already used to it during training. It can rain several times a day here and once it even rained for two days straight.
