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– My heart aches even at night after every defeat and every draw. But this time I’ve
called at the dressing room not for railing, but for just the opposite – to support the
lads. I told them that I liked a lot their reaction after they had conceded the
second goal: the side created 5-6 scoring chances, scored a goal and could have
scored more. Currently, I wouldn’t make any tragedy about our situation both in
terms of the Champions League and the Ukrainian premiership. I’m very
disappointed and it really hurts. This notwithstanding, we are one family,
therefore we must share both pain and joy. The present period is anything but
simple, being tough on us, and, most importantly, we must stick together till the
last gun is fired. I always act like that.
– What’s your take on the ‘heat of the struggle’? – It was a very intense and interesting
game. I don’t think that we deserved the beating tonight, but that’s the way the ball
bounces. I am sure that Shakhtar will show their paces in the domestic league
and the Champions League alike. We have no intention of losing heart, we will
appear in every match and show our worth. That’s exactly what I intended to
communicate while at the dressing room. I thanked the boys for the last 30 minutes
of the game. – Did you feel uncomfortable due to that
the Ultras stand was silent today? – Frankly, I haven't noticed that, I was
fully taken up by the game. I felt a very strong support, from the fans, and I
appreciate their support. I understand that their hearts ached as well, especially
after we played 2-2 with Zenit. It is not about the score, it is that we allowed Zenit
creating many scoring chances, which is unusual to us, and Barcelona did not
allow this as well. Nevertheless, 45 000 fans have come, and I am sure that
together with our fans we'll take a lot of tropheys and will please our fans with
great games and new tropheys. I have no doubt about this. I never have doubts -
my intention is to be always in advance. If sometimes there are barriers that are
beyond our efforts - this is a step up. We will find reserves to overcome the
obstacles. I am sure that Shakhtar will become much stronger after this situation.
– In due time you advised Oleksandr
Yaroslavskyi from Metalist to go in for football, and his team has beaten your
side at the Donbass Arena tonight. What kind of dialogue was there between you
and him? – I greeted him on the win. It’s just great
that I advised him to engage in this business, I believe that Ukrainian football
has profited from this. All of us see the squad who make their fans happy,
worthily representing Ukraine in Europe just as Kharkiv in Ukraine. I am confident
that if there had been more such clubs, our league would have seen a completely
different ball game quality wise, primarily to the Ukrainian fans’ advantage. Football
is a game, full of emotions, and when my favourite team loses, I turn into the
unhappiest person. It happened so that Yaroslavskyi greeted me more often,
I realized, that he was hurting, but he had courage enough to greet me on the win - I
mean Shakhtar-Metalist games. Now Metalist won, and I greet them. I found the
strentgh to greet the team, and what is more important, I've found the strentgh to
call at the team, to thank them for 30 minutes in the 2nd half, to say, that the
best games are yet to be played. I want to get this important thing over to our fans,
that Shakhtar is an ambitious team, and this means also ambitious fans.
Great winnings are yet to come!