Anatoliy Demyanenko: "In 2019, we visited almost all regions of Ukraine, visited Canada, Georgia, Spain"

The head coach of the national team of Ukraine among veterans Anatoliy Demyanenko is a symbol of the team created four years ago.

He is with her in all matches, uniting famous players with authority and wise advice. Anatoliy Vasyliovych told how the year passed for the national team, under the flags of which more than 50 most famous domestic performers perform.

- The most important thing is that we have a friendly team of like-minded people. All the guys, regardless of age, merit, authority, are one family, each of our meetings or matches has its own zest and interesting history. Football destiny is changeable. Not everyone has a coaching job today, because there are few teams, and there are more and more certified specialists every year. In the national team of veterans, the doors are open to everyone, we enjoy traveling to Ukraine and the world, as well as give a football holiday to fans. In 2019, there were traditionally many fights, we visited almost all regions of Ukraine, visited Canada, Georgia, Spain. On behalf of all the players, I can only thank Oleg Sobutsky that there is such a good team in our lives.

Photo of the press service of AFVU

- Footage flew all over Ukraine, as the national team visited Stanytsia Luhanska on Independence Day, talked to people at the CPVV, and then played a friendly match at the city stadium. What are your emotions after such trips?

- The most positive ones, we are treated well everywhere, we are well received. As you know, on such holidays we have dozens of proposals to hold a match, but we went to the East, to the military and locals. Life there is very difficult, people are tired and desperate. And when they see the national team of Ukraine in their city, when the National Anthem of Ukraine is played, we give gifts and wish peace and unity - this improves the mood and faith in the better. Our organizer, UAF Vice President Oleh Sobutsky is saying the right words, he wants to hold a peace match at Donbass Arena as soon as possible. If peace comes, and I have no doubt about it, Ukraine will return its lands and people, our contribution to this will also be.

- Regarding the composition of the national team, what changes have taken place this year?

- There is a rotation, you will not get anywhere from it. Because there are many more people who deserve to play in the national team than there are places in the team. During the year, the team played 40 matches, on average it is a match per week, if you do not take into account the cold season. Fortunately, the serious injuries of the boys were avoided, except for minor injuries. Some drop out due to employment, for example, at the end of the year Yuriy Maksymov and Viktor Ulyanytsky went to work for Vorskla, Ruslan Rotan, Vitaliy Reva, Serhiy Nagornyak and Volodymyr Yezersky are coaches of the youth and youth national teams of Ukraine, Serhiy Popov found a job at Zora. I can go on and on, football life is changeable, there is always something going on in it. The team gladly lets the guys go to work, and then greets them no less warmly. As for the new names, a few young people pulled up. These are Mykola Ishchenko, Vitaliy Mandzyuk, Ruslan Rotan, Gennady Medvedev, Oleksandr Romanchuk. Those who two or three years ago played for professional teams are now in our ranks.

Photo of the press service of AFVU

- From the tournament point of view, which matches did you like the most?

- The January tournament in Georgia is traditionally interesting. There are a lot of strong teams, but holding matches on a small field leaves a certain imprint. I also really enjoyed the tournament in Madrid with the participation of leading Spanish teams. Each of the five games was interesting, and in the final we played with Atletico Madrid. There were interesting matches as part of the Ukrainian tour. Young guys from the regional championship or other amateur competitions often played against us. Our team has its strengths, so we had our weapons against them.

- In the Premier League, the number of spectators at stadiums decreases every year, is there such a trend in the matches of the veterans' national team?

- Fortunately, we are fine with this. Oleg Sobutsky, for which we are very grateful to him, built at a high level both football and organizational components of the veterans' team. We always have full stadiums, we often arrange football workshops, meetings with children, participate in awarding the winners of various tournaments, perform on local television. It's all part of a lot of work to promote football and a healthy lifestyle. The attention of the audience is important to us. It is nice, as at a young age, to go out on the field to applause, to feel the breath and emotions of the stands. For this we are sincerely grateful to all the fans and invite them to our matches in 2020.

Photo of the press service of AFVU

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