Shovkovskyi: We try to do everything possible to give our fans at least some positive emotions

FC Dynamo Kyiv head coach Oleksandr Shovkovskyi answered media questions the day before the Champions League qualification play-off stage second leg against RB Salzburg:

- First of all I’d like to second the words of Volodymyr Brazhko: this morning we were all very anxious due to the mass shelling in Ukraine. What’s going on in our country for over ten years including two and a half years of a full-scale invasion of russia, impacts all our thoughts and feelings. We don’t separate ourselves from Ukraine and our people even when we’re abroad. It’s very tough. I hope none of you ever have to experience this.

I also want to express my immense gratitude to our warriors for giving us the opportunity to play football and deliver much-needed positive emotions to people. It is not easy, but we perfectly understand that it is much more difficult for them.

- Is the team ready for the upcoming game?
- We analyzed the first leg with cool head and made certain conclusions. We’ll do the best we can to reach our goal.

- Are all players ready to take the field?
- Vitalii Buialskyi isn’t with us. Unfortunately he got sick after the game against Karpaty. That’s why he stayed in Ukraine and didn’t even work with the team in Lublin before the first leg. Besides, Volodymyr Shepelev and Maksym Diachuk are absent. The latter has had a surgery. It’s been three weeks, so they took his bandage off and he’s reconditioning at our training ground in Kyiv. Others are ready to play and do their best to succeed.

- How do you focus on football considering what’s going on in your country?
­- You need to understand one thing: as I’ve said, we never separate ourselves from the Ukrainian people. Now the situation is extremely difficult: many cities and villages have no electricity because critical infrastructure was hit. In some cities, the air alert is on for more than 15-16 hours, and in the front-line territories it’s on almost constantly. Many of our defenders are football fans, they support Dynamo and other clubs, so we try to do everything possible to give them at least some positive emotions because it’s extremely important to them. Therefore we’ll do everything in our power to perform decently within the framework of the principles and rules of fair play and turn the tide of this duel in our favor, regardless of how unfavorable the result of the first game was for us.

- Dynamo players need to do 200% of what they can to reach the Champions League group stage. Is the team ready to surpass the opponent in the will to win?
- Frankly speaking, that’s what we’re good at. We hope to show that under any circumstances, in any situation, no matter what happens around us, we’ll always strive to do the best we can. No matter how difficult the situation is, we, Ukrainians, will never give up. I think this message is important for everyone. This was the case our athletes competed at the Olympic Games, and, I hope, it will be the case everywhere and always.