The coach said goodbye to Dynamo and Shakhtar players
Head coach Dynamo Mircea Lucescu announced his retirement from coaching after the match with Shakhtar (0:1) in the 13th round Ukrainian Premier League.
“Today I wouldn’t like to talk about the game. I devoted 15 years to Ukrainian football, and this is where I decided to end my coaching career. This is my last game. “I said goodbye to the Dynamo players and Shakhtar players.”
“I hope some piece of me remains here. I am grateful to the President of Dynamo for our joint work. Of course, I wanted to end my career differently. But everything comes to an end in this life. Everything has its beginning and everything has its end.”
“If we say two words about the game, today the more experienced team won. We had chances but didn’t take them.”
“Dynamo has a future; the club has good promising young people. Today our oldest player in the reserve was Sirota. But naturally, these guys need to work hard to succeed. But, I repeat, the team has a future. I am sure that Ukraine also has a future. I admit, it was very difficult for me to process everything that was happening in Ukraine since the beginning of the war. Including the absence of fans, and minutes of silence before each match. It was difficult for me. Over the years you become sentimental. Each game was more difficult for me than the previous one. You constantly think about the fact that people are dying at the front, you constantly think about what people are going through here. It was difficult to combine all this with football.”
“Thank you everyone! Thanks to Ukrainian football! Thanks to Ukraine for these 15 years! I wish you all peace, health and a happy future. I have been here since the beginning of the war. I didn’t leave Shakhtar in 2014 either.
“Dynamo now has a young team and maybe my pressure and authority were too much for them. I take full responsibility for the latest results. We had a handicap in relation to our opponents in the standings, but, unfortunately, we could not win these matches.”
“Over the past two years, 14 players have left our team. These are experienced football players and leaders. But young people need time, these guys cannot immediately replace experienced and more skilled football players.”
“You need to have patience. It’s easiest to criticize. We need to support young people so that they begin to produce results. Not only in Dynamo, but also in the Ukrainian national team. Foreigners don’t come here now. So we need to be patient.”
“Thank you too, the journalists. Thank you all for everything. Unfortunately, Artem Frankov is no longer with us. He loved football and lived for it. It is a pity that such people go to another world. Hugs to you all, all the best to you.”
Lucescu resigned as Dynamo coach immediately after the match with Shakhtar. The Kiev team lost to the Miners, conceding the only goal from Alexander Zubkov at the beginning of the second half.
Lucescu took over Dynamo in the summer of 2020. In the first season under the leadership of the Romanian, the Kiev team became the champion of Ukraine, and also won the Cup and Super Cup of Ukraine.
Let us remember that Lucescu was the head of Shakhtar from 2004 to 2016. With the Miners, the Romanian won 22 trophies, including becoming the champion of Ukraine 8 times.
Dynamo is in seventh place in the UPL, gaining 16 points in 10 matches. The white-blues will play their next match on November 12 against Krivbass.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.
