On Thursday July 14, Shakhtar held its first training sessions under the guidance of the new head coach Igor Jovicevic.

In the morning, the Croatian manager gathered the players on the pitch, introduced them to the work plan and opened the session with a loud cry: “Respect the pass! The passing game makes our living, respect the pass!”

The opening session was of an introductory nature: a warm-up and a run gave them the necessary physical workload before technical exercises with the ball. Goalkeepers with their new coach Francisco Galan were exercising in line with a separate programme. The session lasted for an hour and 30 minutes.

After lunch and a short rest, the Miners returned to the training field. The evening session was based around tactics as Igor Jovicevic strives to familiarize the team with his playing philosophy as soon as possible.

It should be noted that 27 football players took part in the first sessions.

Goalkeepers: Andriy Pyatov, Anatolii Trubin, Oleksii Shevchenko, Tymur Puzankov

Defenders: Serhii Kryvtsov, Mykola Matviienko, Valerii Bondar, Viktor Korniienko, Yukhym Konoplia, Ihor Kiryukhantsev, Marian Farina, Andrii Buleza, Petro Stasiuk, Dmytro Kapinus

Midfielders: Taras Stepanenko, Mykhailo Mudryk, Heorhii Sudakov, Artem Bondarenko, Dmytro Kryskiv, Dmytro Topalov, Oleksii Kashchuk, Oleh Ocheretko, Denys Shostak, Kyrylo Siheev

Forwards: Andrii Totovytskyi, Andrii Kulakov, Danyil Sikan

The first stage of the training camp will take place in Rotterdam from 14 to 30 July. They scheduled three charity matches, including an encounter with Ajax (July 26). All games will be held as part of the charitable Shakhtar Global Tour for Peace.