Jovicevic: We have a desire to show through football that life in Ukraine goes on

Shakhtar head coach Ihor Jovičević spoke to the press on the eve of the start of the new Ukrainian Football Championship season.

- It was just as hard for us as it was for you to prepare for this conversation. But it's work. We perceive this as professionalism, as a great responsibility - to show the world that life in Ukraine does not stop. Football is one of those factors that drives the emotions of the whole country and the people who fight for us. This is very important for us - to continue to live, to show that football goes on. It's hard, of course. But now it is important.

- Are you satisfied with the squad's conditions before the start of the season?
- Tomorrow's match will be indicative for all the teams and for us. And we will receive a lot of information about psychological, tactical and physical conditions after the match. So will all the UPL clubs. In the first matches, no one will be at the peak of their form. It's impossible. Tomorrow's match is a stressful situation. It will be football in the fullest sense - where you play for the result, you experience stress and responsibility. And the cost of a mistake is very high. We have a lot of young people in the team. Let's see how they handle this pressure. But I think that we have a lot of talent in our squad. If you connect it with the inspiration and motivation that I talked about, then over time it will get better and better. And in the first match it will be difficult for everyone.

- There are a lot of young people in the team. Who will be the leader of this squad?
- We know our current leaders, but we hope that over time the new leaders would emerge. They won't hide when the hard times come and they will take responsibility on the pitch. This will add confidence to the team.

- You know what war is, so how do you prepare the guys for the championship in such conditions?
- It's hard. Atypical situation. Let's see how it goes. But we have a desire to show that life goes on. If an air raid starts during the match, we will see what we will do and how we will finish this match. How long will it last, will the match be rescheduled for the next day... Or how do we get to the venue of the Champions League matches. Logistics play a very important role. We should be like one family - players, and journalists, and ordinary citizens. Football should distract people from their stressful activities, and we will help them here. It's hard for us too. We are people too. But we play for the result and want to give joy to our fans. And, of course, we want to win every match and we will work for it.

- Why did you decide to lead the team that plays during the war? And how hard is it to invite players from abroad to the team?
- There is an internal motivation that moves me forward. One of these factors is the Champions League. This is a dream that I have been working on for a long time. The players who have gathered now really respect Shakhtar and create this new Shakhtar. It is very important. The generations change, that is taking place now at Shakhtar, is a big plus for our mentality. For a long time there was a Brazilian Shakhtar and the majority of the world perceived it that way. But now we have to forget about it and from a coaching point of view, we must speed up the process of training this new team. To create a squad for the best of the players. And it will take time.