Oleh Kudryk: I started jumping to other side & cleared two penalties

23-03-15 11:37:41

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Interview with the goalkeeper of Shakhtar U-19, who won two straight penalty shoot-outs for the Pitmen.

Last season, Donetsk juniors have proved effective in the UEFA Youth League – they advanced from the group without any major issues, caused Arsenal a lot of trouble (by the way, the Gunners’ current first-team players Chuba Akpom and Hector Bellerin played for Arsenal U-19 back then), but finally the Donetsk boys were knocked out by the Londoners. The Pitmen’s goal was kept back then by the talented Bohdan Sarnavskyi. This year, due to his age, the goalkeeper has been unable to take part in the competition. But as they say, it was a blessing in disguise.

New goalkeeper, the 18-year-old Oleh Kudryk, was a real boon and won two penalty shootouts for the Pitmen. His first ‘victims’ were Olympiacos, followed by Benfica. Plus in the match against the Portuguese, he saved another spot kick in normal time. This way, the charges of Valeriy Kryventsov advanced to the competition’s semi-finals.

- Oleh, how does it feel to be the UEFA Youth League finalist?
- It feels great, the whole team is on cloud nine. But we want to go the extra mile. We should play great football in the next game and reach the final.

- Are Benfica the strongest opponents you have ever played against?
- I think so. The Portuguese are very strong.

- You benefited the goal scored by Shtander ...
- Let's put it like this - the penalty wasted by the opponents has helped the team to feel more confident. I was sure that we could equalize.

- If Balde had performed the penalty shot better, would you still have cleared it?
- No, I wouldn’t! As I feel to the other side. Had the shot been more powerful, I wouldn’t have had enough time to clear it. It’s good that everything ended that way.

- In the penalty shoot-out, you parried one shot away and was very close to making a couple more saves. Did you react to the ball movement or just guessed the direction?
- I guessed it.

- What about Olympiacos?
- In that game I had the tactic of jumping to one side. It didn’t work. I started jumping to the other side and cleared two penalties!

- So you never study the opponent for their manner of taking spot kicks?
- Exactly. I try to figure out where a player can strike it just before the shot.

- What did Valeriy Kryventsov say after the match?
- He congratulated everyone on the victory and wished us to work on, not just stopping there.

- What do they say in the team regarding Shakhtar’s performance?
- Appetite comes with eating. We really want to play in the final, doing everything for that.

- How did you get to Shakhtar?
- When I was 16, they invited me for a trial and were satisfied with my performance.

- Did you find it hard to sit behind the “broad back” of Sarnavskyi?
- I actually did. As he's my senior, while I wasn’t mature enough.

- Is it hard for the team at the new location?
- I got used to it. I'm coming from Lviv actually, just resided in Donetsk. Therefore, the move to Poltava was fine with me. Especially since there are very good conditions for living and working.

- What’s the young players’ attitude to the developments in the East?
- Everyone wants to live in peace ...

- In Lviv, where did you start your football career?
- At FC Lviv. My first coaches were Roman Marych and Taras Shevchyk.

Did you act as an outfield player?
- I want to admit that I love playing as an outfield player, but they put me between the sticks straight away.

- What are your favourite club and goalkeeper?
- Barcelona and Gianluigi Buffon.

- What are you dreaming about?
- I dream about becoming a goalkeeper of European level, well, and about winning this season's Youth League title.

Matchday.ua
21/03/2015