And yet it was necessary to win!

26-01-15 18:42:37

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You may or may not have wanted it, but Artem Frankov and Ruslan Marmazov again talked to each other.

- What happened in the match with Atletico Mineiro? 0:4 in the course of the match - a shock, justified by the fact that it was friendly and the initial stage of preparation, some mistakes which should not be made even after a heavy hangover?
- So what happened... We lost virtually without chances for success. Nothing pleasant was felt by anyone. Except maybe by our ideological opponents. Have you seen it on the Internet? Shakhtar are destroyed to the ground, and it is time to write them off from the list of those living. Clearly, this is not the glorious victory over the team of bakers based in a settlement near the training camp, not the triumph versus a reserve side of a high-profile club, which is written in Arshin font (and the fact that it is not the first team squad can be forgotten or added in “small print"). It was game against a decent team from the Brazilian league. On their field, with the support of the crowd crazy.

By the way, here's one of my most vivid impressions of Brazil football: fans. Incredible passion and support. Study and learn. The unattainable height. But! Of course, you're right. Such defeats at the training camps are highly undesirable.

Do you think such a defeat was planned? Nothing like that. Most likely, we were not ready to receive two opening goals and then change the game. Errors trouble. If I knew how to get rid of them, now I would holds theory sessions with the team. And your questions would be answered by Lucescu, who would work at Shakhtar as a press officer.

However, I would slip into banality for a moment and remind you that the preparatory period is also necessary for determining the weakest spots for their further strengthening. If you look at the next game with Inter, so some conclusions have been made. So to speak, measures have been taken.

- What was it performed by Lucescu?! He obviously played the scene, hoping thus to spur the team up, or has he just lost his nerve? Did he understand that this video would be a hit for a long time, and is unlikely to be seen in the positive light?
- Lucescu’s style is unique and many do not understand it. Moreover, for many it is unacceptable and surprising. But for Mister it is important to achieve the greatest possible success in each game. If it is necessary to divert the attention with even such a stunt, he will do that. And frankly, that's really the least interesting for Mircea whether someone will rotate this video hit. Who will? Brazilians? Hardy! In Ukraine? Yes, there is no greater joy than to mock opponents somewhere in the dusty editorial quiet. Listen, if Lucescu from time to time didn’t perform such stunts, would be he loved? No, of course. You cannot be good for everyone, and it is not necessary.

And so at least there is food for the press. Otherwise, they would have just written: "Another victory from Shakhtar (or "Another defeat... ", does not matter). But in this case there is also scope for creative flight. For acrobatics disturbing the brain: corkscrew, barrel, Pugachyov Cobra. And you can draw Mister as Romanian horrible monster and that half of the Brazilian population got a heart attack when they saw Mister racing to the referee, and that he disgraced Ukraine (how he glorified it with the UEFA Cup, how he made Europe generally perceive the area as something football, of course doesn’t draw attention, and if it does, only in the long run). But it is Lucescu, a significant figure in the big game, a man who has long had pages in history. And who are these nameless heroes that peep out from the corners assessing his actions? What will remain after them?

And back to the episode. Mircea ran to talk with the referee. Of course, he was sent off. Leaving behind bars (there, the teams do walk into the tunnel first, but into a buffer zone with metal rods), the coach turned respectfully to the stands to applaud them. They, by the way, responded positively. But, if you take the bottom line, what do we have? Prior to Lucescu, the Pitmen were trailing 4:0, in the end the game ended 4:2. And in the end of the second half, Ivan Ordets could have made it 4:3, and a few years later, having forgotten the subtleties of the game, but looking at the report, someone will say, "Look, it was an end-to-end game." That is the coach with his ambiguous demarche  spurred the players up, and showed the referee the ambiguity of his decisions (it was the little things, he obviously wanted to appeal to the local audience, but then he still awarded the penalty versus the home team), and now we are talking about this episode. Can we also talk about other things?

But no, Mircea Lucescu is again at the epicentre of events. By the way, after the game he was terribly annoyed. We returned to the hotel, had a dinner without appetite, then came Mister and asked to eat faster, then sent everyone to have a rest except the players. And as I suspect, the players had a harsh conversation. After which there was a great game in Porto Alegre. Thereafter optionally - means thereby. But I have a right to believe in the life-giving role of coaching invigorating sermons.

- As far as we can see matches are very far from being friendly. What led to three red cards with Inter? Guys were wound up due to the fact that some ("gremistas") were jeered and others were welcome?
- I came to the firm conviction that in Brazil there are no friendly games at all. Teams are extremely motivated in games regardless of their status. The public would never forgive the game slackness ... The match looked at one go. The cards were the result of a great desire to win. And the referee, this time wasn’t sentimental - he punished everyone, regardless of the person and the passport. It is clear that in this city attitude of Inter’s fans to everything that runs through at least briefly next to Gremio - intransigence. Conversely, of course, similar sentiments. But I am not inclined to think that it is linked to the abundance of cards. It was a real uncompromising game - yes, I won’t argue, it made me happy.

Here the Lord has allowed to visit another very football town. I saw the stadiums of both Gremio and Inter. Excellent facilities, where it is worth bringing any guests. On the day of the match, even in the morning, half of the city in their club shirts. Not the richest people in the world, football tickets are expensive, but 35,000 fans gathered for a friendly. Most Ukrainian clubs can only dream of such figures in the official games. Scolari (the one that Louis and Philip) came to Mircea to talk about life, football. Moreno dropped by. Indeed, at Shakhtar, his career at Shakhtar didn’t really develop, but he is good at Cruzeiro. He remembers Donetsk, loves, misses it... I will reveal a secret revealed: our club ladies at the time were really fond of Marcelo Moreno. Well, he is tall, stately, hairy, good for advertising jeans Levi's, for example. Apparently, he caused some imaginations. And there was not really matter what he was like as a footballer.

Meeting with Atletico was marked girlish tears. At one of the stands (and maybe not in one, but it was what I saw) there were young beauties, who not hide their plans about Bernard. And one, according to its colourful posters, even partially embodied ideas. In any case, the text demanded that Bernard met his son. There was also a photo of a nice 2-year-old  boy with his mother and a football star. The second frame, however, was a little confusing. Something like "oh, can I take a picture with you?" However ... The owner of the banner, a child in the arms of some guy were right there. Something tells – they were thinking about alimonies! If we assume that yes, there was a peccadillo, and this was really the son of Bernard, it turns out that all the other girls were standing in the queue to fill up a prestigious list of Belo Horizonte’s single mothers. And they were not bothered by that. At this stage at least. Before meetings, some Brazilian clubs tend to bring a crowd of children to the middle circle. They do some dances there, then rush to players. In Belo Horizonte, most of the crowd rushed to Bernard and nearly strangled him. I hope that not all of them were his kids... But ... Better than informal nickname of the local teams – the Cocks!

- The main thing is the first victory, I can imagine what a relief it was. It would have been also nice to beat Cruzeiro were just a step away from it... What are your impressions of the level of the Brazilian team? Do the locals have remarks regarding the squads - say, not all first-team players were involved (As an example, the squad of Inter: Leo and Nilton – clear newcomers, the keeper Halisson and forward Sasha - subs, Alan and Alex - only for replacement at the end of the game, a couple of people like Dida, Wellington, Paulista and Vitinho were not even in the squad... But they are to start on February 1 in the state championship!)
- Of course, delighted. Victory in itself is a good thing. And even more so after the results of the first matches of the tour. By and large, did we have to play out a draw with Bahia or not to win versus Flamengo? I can be biased, but in these two matches Shakhtar looked better, but that did not happen. With Atletico Mineiro, no doubt, we lost deservedly. Brazilian tour for us is another story, important and interesting. Of course, the victory was necessary as air. As to the squads, it is the internal problems of Brazilian clubs. We do not know what kind of plans the coaches of those teams had and their situation with injured players.

Level of the teams is decent in my opinion. It could be clearly seen that for all our Brazilian opponents, Shakhtar were a decent stimulus. New, unseen opponent, playing in the Champions League, forcing them to rant and rave. Well, if one of their youth players took to the pitch, he was just extremely eager to impress the stands and coaches. Given that in these meetings we had no pressure of the standings, I can say that I was looking forward to a football show. And I got it in every match.

- What other impressions gave the "Land of gold fruit"?
- Of course, we travelled a lot. The distances between cities, and cities themselves, are huge.  I can imagine how tired our administrators who would load, then unload club baggage. Every two days, there was a new place... But Brazil's worth it! Very colourful, diverse country. Started in Rio at 40C, now before making a second coming to its capital, having travelled across Brazil, and then it got cold, icy night, 20C. Some took trowels, and some locals walked in sweaters.

People here are amazingly slow and unflappable. And "turtles" from Brasilia can easily grumble against the inhabitants of Rio, that those are just too sleepy. It is interesting how they respond to the problematic moments. Expressing claims against someone from indentured servants, you must be prepared that they will just turn around and go away gradually. Perfect solution! In any situation, go to bed - something like that. And then, why waste your nerves?

In Belo Horizonte everyone tries to sell you pepper, but in Porto Alegre they are obsessed with mate. And despite the fact that among them there are few people from Germany and Poland. The stadium before the game entertains the audience by a piece of carnival. And in the evening at a reception on behalf of the director of Inter, there is cowboy dance-show - a very different experience. When Taras Stepanenko was pulled to the scene, they put a cigarette in his mouth (which is wild in itself), and then chopped it off with a leather belt millimetres away from his lips, it was quite shocking, to be honest. Stepanenko was absolutely calm, smiling, accepting congratulations from the audience... In short, my friends, we don’t know Brazil very well. Even such a trip doesn’t let you discover a lot. Probably we should come here again to understand it deeper.

FC Shakhtar Press Office based on Futbol magazine