Lucescu: All foreign coaches have left Ukraine, but I cannot give up

The coach of Kyiv Dynamo spoke about the difficult time for himself and the team due to the invasion of Kremlin troops.

The head coach of Dynamo Kyiv gave an extensive interview to Gazeta Sporturilor. In it, the Romanian specialist spoke about the last time he spoke with the former owner of Shakhtar, Rinat Akhmetov, and about the situation in Ukraine during the war.

According to Lucescu, the long and tiring journey was the most difficult, although he wanted to give up and leave Kiev, but he could not betray the club in difficult times.

“Speaking about my biggest success with Dynamo, I can say how they lost in the last championship by 23 points ahead of Shakhtar, and a year later we won by 11 points. We also won the Cup and the Super Cup. Then of the pandemic came the war, football is no more, it is no longer possible … Now it is very difficult.

I played in Uzhgorod and traveled 13 hours by train. Then I went to Lvov, another seven or eight hours. When I played in European competitions, I went to Krakow, Lvov, Kyiv, Chisinau every week. It is very difficult, but football must live and not be abandoned. This is the sentimental side of people who are completely innocent.

In Ukraine, football is played only in three or four stadiums. I want to give up, but I can’t! All foreign coaches left Ukraine, but I could not give up. I will not leave Corvinul either, because I had incredible success, but I went to work for the national team. It’s a difficult situation, but I can’t betray the club! If I leave, I myself will be considered an act of betrayal.

I have an offer from Fenerbahce. I can’t leave Kyiv, even though I have a huge problem. 11 players left the team, and now I have five, six children. Zabarny went to England, Tsygankov to Spain, Verbich to Panathinaikos, Kendzera to PAOK… Until the pandemic came, Dynamo Kyiv won a lot of matches, a lot of fans at the games, and then the team finished without them.

Lost money? Shakhtar has a manager who loves football more than money. Akhmetov earned money for the team. He fell in love with this team from the age of six or seven and never agreed to take a team from another country or another club from Ukraine.

Our last conversation was two weeks ago. He was upset that I went to Dynamo Kiev, but we are professionals. At Dynamo, they just begged me to come and talk, because their time was difficult, and in the end they convinced me to sign a contract.

What is my salary? (Laughs) I was waiting for this question… I don’t earn as much as people imagine. And the question is far from money. The question is to survive! Both for the club and for all football in Ukraine. I want to do the same in Romania, but it’s impossible,” said Lucescu.

Remember, earlier it was known that Mircea Lucescu got sick after the fight with Minaj.

news Correspondent.net on Telegram. Subscribe to our channel Athletistic