Vitaliy bydbprosche Lytvynov: "Participation in the European Esports Championship 2022 is an opportunity to convey to European colleagues what is happening in our country"

05.09.2022 15:00

Photo of UAF press service

From September 6 to 10, Montenegro will host the eFootball European Esports Championship 2022. Vitaly bydbprosche Litvinov, who won the national selection held at the end of July at the FC Rukh academy, will take part in the competition from Ukraine. in Lviv.

Cyberfootballer recalls his success in the qualifying tournament, analyzes the format and opponents in future competitions, tells how the war affected his life, and admits that in case of success, he plans to spend the prize on helping Ukraine.

— Vitaly, at the beginning of September, you will take part in the European eFootball Championship in the discipline of eFootball — European Esports Championship 2022. What does participation in such competitions mean to you?

— It is a great honor for me to be part of the national team. It is all the more valuable in such difficult times. Winning the national selection and getting the opportunity to represent Ukraine at the European Championship during the war is an opportunity to personally show and convey to European colleagues what is happening in our country.

— You won a ticket to the European Championship in the qualifying tournament held in July in Lviv. Was this your first competition since the start of the full-scale war? How difficult was it to get back into the game with the events going on in the country?

— I would like to thank the vice-president of the UAEF, Denis Davydov, for the excellent organization of the selection tournament. For the players, it was the first competition of this scale, so everyone got in shape at an accelerated pace and logged hours in eFootball. But, of course, the situation in the country has made its own adjustments, psychological pressure is felt. The safety of the family and the issue of providing it with everything necessary came first in life.

— How would you rate the qualifying competitions in which you managed to defeat Ihor Lyubchak and Maksym Andrasyuk in the decisive series? Lviv had a decent line-up of participants, did the war not allow all the best to gather?

— In my opinion, 80% of the country's strongest players came to Lviv. Only national team player Serhii Marchenko was absent. I got the most difficult possible tournament path. In the group and 1/8 finals, we had to meet with Oleksiy Bohdyaz and Vladyslav Vasylyshyn, whose experience can be safely classified as one of the top 8 Ukrainian players. In the semi-finals, there was a confrontation with Ihor Lyubchak, a member of the national team and a participant of the last European Championship, in Kryvyi Rih. The games were even, and the winner was the one who endured his weak points in the matches. And in the final there was a meeting with Maksym Andrasyuk. We already played in the finals of 2019, when we competed for the right to become the main player of the national team. And again — five matches, drama, overtime, a penalty shootout... The complete set for a series that was worthy of a final.

- You come from Dnipro. How much has your life and your family's life changed since the full-scale Russian invasion began in February of this year? After all, the Dnipropetrovsk region is under regular shelling from the Russians, and Dnipro has taken in a lot of refugees from neighboring regions over the past six months...

— The events of February 24 came as a shock to me, as, apparently, to all Ukrainians. I could not believe that the Russian authorities decided to start a war against our country. This is a huge grief and trouble, this is a terrible crime. The first days I was thinking about what to do next and how to protect my family. Therefore, at the beginning of March, he took her to Lviv, and later she left for Poland. I haven't seen my family for six months. When the family left, the youngest son did not yet know how to crawl, but now he is already taking his first steps.

My attitude to the war is as negative as possible. Since its first days, I have been trying to help refugees and our defenders at the front. In particular, he helped Oleksiy Bogdyazh and Maksym Andrasyuk to get out of Mariupol. He helped them with housing and everything necessary for life.

Photo of UAF press service

— Ukraine has been fighting Russia for its integrity and independence for six months. In your opinion, has the life and mentality of people somehow changed during this period?

— I think that the life of Ukrainians is finally divided into "before" and "after". People have changed mentally, but it is very important not to lose this calling. Many of those who went abroad note how good it was in our country after all. It is a pity that many things can only be learned by comparison.

I fundamentally did not want to leave the country. Everyone has to make their own choice. If you are not ready to fight, you must do everything possible to stop the war. To help refugees and people who are left with nothing. You can be useful even without a machine gun in your hands. Also, the war tore off masks from people. It became clear who is who in reality.

— How and where are you preparing for the European Championship? Tell us how your training day goes…

— I am preparing for the tournament directly in Montenegro. I train every day, playing both online and offline. Maksym Andrasyuk helps in the preparation, who can suggest something and sometimes encourage. It happens that you make simple mistakes and don't notice it in the hustle and bustle of the game. He can point to it. We can also discuss new elements in the game, new chips. I am generally in favor of a player sitting in the game arena and a coach/assistant next to him, as it happens in FIFA tournaments. This would significantly improve the quality of the games.

— What can you say about the format of the tournament and its features? How do you like the level of opponents in the group?

— The format of the tournament is classic: group round and playoffs. It was surprising that in the groups the series will be played only until one victory. To me, one match between players is a lottery. And for me personally, this is a minus, since I play the second or third match much stronger than the first. Therefore, it will be necessary to try very hard to leave the group.

Austria, Belgium and France joined the group. France is the favorite, it will be represented by an ex-player of London "Arsenal", a consistently strong professional player. Austria and Belgium are also represented by the strongest players, our boys dealt with them at the last Euro and came out victorious. But those matches were very difficult. I set a goal for myself to leave the group, and there to fight to the last. I'm mentally ready, that's the main thing.

— You will represent Ukraine at the European Championship. The whole world is watching Ukraine now. What message do you intend to leave for the international community about our country?

— If I manage to win the prizes, they will go to help Ukraine. I also asked to organize a stream so that people have the opportunity to donate to our country. I bought a lot of Ukrainian flags, took some t-shirts. There will be inscriptions on the flags with an appeal to help Ukraine, to help stop the war.

I will also ask all participants to sign them, so that later, together with the eSports Federation of Ukraine and the Ukrainian E-Football Association, we will organize charity auctions and collect funds to help our people end the war as soon as possible.