SERHI REBROV

The star of Serhi Rebrov rose on the football horizon in 1992, when the 17-year old forward became the best goleador of the Shakhtar Donetsk. Then the talented youngster was invited to play Dynamo Kyiv. Withstanding any and all possible competition, this fast-moving, persistent footballer has grown in skill from year to year, and today it is impossible to imagine either Dynamo or the Ukrainian National Team without him.

Despite his under-average height, Rebrov is rightly considered the "King of the Air". He stands out for his high starting speed, original dribbling and well-aimed kicks from both feet. Scorer of deciding goals in many important matches (Dynamo - Spartak Moscow 3:2 (CL-94), Ukraine - N. Ireland 2:1, Ukraine - Russia 3:2, etc) the forward gained fame for his own original "magic wand". Serhi Rebrov's brilliant performance in the Champions League-97 raised him to the ranks of the best forwards on the continent.

In the first leg of the Qualifying Round of the Champions League 98/99 Serhi Rebrov had set the Dynamo Kyiv European record -- 4 goals in one game (Dynamo - Barry Town 8:0)


Memorable Goals

(Movies)


SERHI REBROV: "Dynamo was the choice of mine"

, winter 1999.
(Ukrainian KOI, use Universal Cyrillic Converter for transliteration)

SERHI REBROV: "I dream about fishing..."

by Vlasta Shovkovsky, the wife of Olexandr Shovkovsky, summer 1998.


-- How do you deal with increasing popularity?

-- Normally. I don't feel any pressure. I never gave interviews earlier in my carrier - I'm a "closed" person. There is a certain circle of people with whom I interact. I do not tell anybody about myself. But right now I'm willing to talk...

-- What was your childhood dream?

-- I don't remember, probably I wanted to be an astronaut, maybe a scientist. I was a lively child. Run all the time with a ball, spent little time at home.

-- Did you do any other sports besides football? Or only football and nothing else?

-- As a kid I used to play all sports except handball. I would get up at 6am in the morning, 6:30am -- basketball, 8am -- school and football. Volleyball in the evening. This lasted 1,5-2 years. Then I rested my choice on football.

-- Did you plan your football carrier?

-- I always dreamt about playing for Shakhtar and aimed to play for their main team. When I studied in the football school, I didn't think much about future -- lived only with football. Everybody there wants to break through and play. Although only 3 of my class did it, including me. And I never thought about Kyiv.

-- How does Donetsk greet you now?

-- I left many friends there. They always call me in a hotel, come to visit me. In general, they meet me well now. Not like after the first year of my transfer to Dynamo Kyiv. People whistled at me. Donetsk doesn't accept traitors, and I was like a traitor... But my soul is always in Donbas, with Shakhtar. I am always happy for their successes...

-- How did you find yourself in Kyiv?

-- I was only 17. Valeri Yaremchenko made a decision for me. He was like a father for me. Yaremchenko invited me to Shakhtar and fielded me when I was 16-17. I'm very grateful to him -- it was then, probably, when he gave me a direction into football.
When Yaremchenko told me that pppeople came from Kyiv after me, I just didn't believe him. But everything was even very real -- Oshemkov and Bezverkhy (first DK president) talked to me and I answered that everything depends on Yaremchenko.

-- You owe him alot...

-- He believed in me, he has done alot for me and I couln't just walk away. If he said "No", I would have stayed.

-- Do you talk with him often? About what?

-- We try to talk about something else than football. I ask about friends, school...

-- Is football getting you?

-- No, not at all. I live with games. If something gets me -- this is the time at our training camp. It's horrible! You spend 3 days in the camp and 1 day at home. This is very difficult and puts some pressure. We understand that this is a requirement. I may be wrong, but even 3 days in the camp, even if it is super-modern, it is too much and psychologically very difficult.

-- Do you feel any nostalgy for Shakhtar ?

-- I live with a game. Without it one is not a player. When I came to Dynamo Kyiv I rarely was fielded in a main squad. It happened that I called Yaremchenko and asked him to take me back. When I came to Kyiv I was only 17. I understood that they don't trust in me yet. I came on substitutions for 15-20 min... A player without practice, without games -- is not a footballer anymore.

-- When had you felt that you really became a member of Dynamo?

-- When Valeri Lobanovsky returned to Kyiv. I played in Szabo's team, but not in the main squad. More or less I got a chance to play after the game with Spartak Moscow in 1994. After that match I experienced a radical change in my carrier, and I even started to play in the Champions League. But that team was not at such a high level. We would come on a pitch knowing that the opponent is stronger than us. The game was planned differently, psychology was different. Completely different from the last season of 1997...Then, we had Bayern, Spartak, PSG. We haven't seen such stadiums before! In the game with PSG we managed to get to the opponent's goals only 4 times...

-- What was your play at that time?

-- I used to get opened fewer times, tried to play carefully. Now I run forward with pleasure, and see that the whole team is running. But then, I thought, that maybe it is better to "close" on our side, don't run and maybe we will defend. We played completely different style of football...

-- When you watch football games, do you try to learn something or take some moves from somebody?

-- Not really. I'm not an advocate of copying somebody. I play as I play. Perhaps, the play of Juventus could have served as a good example for all of us, for our team. Full sacrifice plus tremendous skill of Zidane, Davids, Indzaghi, Del Piero. I consider them to be players of the world level. They are worth studying from. They are somewhat unpleasant in life, but on a pitch -- real fighters, give themselves fully to the game. This is the quality which we should copy.

-- Could you have beaten Juventus? Or no chances?...

-- A chance is always present. It is not a "deposit"... Could have won! But those 2 mistakes -- it's a pity... What caan we do -- we caan't go back! Though it was possible... "Juve" looked better, but everything could have happened, everything...

-- You have a striking quality to be in a right place at a right moment of time - what is called the goal sense. How do you do this?

-- Any forward necessarily has this same sense, he is magnetized by a ball. He is in a constant search for a ball.

-- And what about that fantastic goal into "Barca"'s net?

-- I looked -- nobody around, no sense to make passes. So i just shot at the goals.

-- And what a shot!

-- A forward should have a good shot, otherwise hee is not a forward. I work alot during training sessions. But, certainly, if something is not laid in your childhood, then it doesn't matter how hard you work aat trainings. If it's not there it won't be there.

-- Despite your short height, you play very well with your head...

-- The height is not the main thing in a game. The main thing is the correct choice of a position, so that you can get to the ball before a defender. And I win because I figuree out that position faster than defenders. It doesn't happen all the time, but if you work hard enough...

-- Rebrov and Shevchenko are Ukraine's best forwards. What are your relations in life and on the pitch?

-- Before we didn't understand enough each other. Especially in the Champions League where everybody wants to show off. Andri was "keeping" the ball, not passing it. But it was in the past... And it is left in the past. Now it is much easier with him. And in life -- we are very good friends.

-- Are you trying to get attention from the foreign selectioners?

-- Nowadays -- no. I am not going to leave so far. I want to achieve something with this team. I like it in Kyiv, we have a good team, we are young and we have good understanding. 1/4 of the Champions League is far from the limit we can get to.

-- Even if an offer would have come from Milan or Manchester United? You wouldn't even think about it?

-- Certainly, I would. But unfortunately, many things depend not on us. Maybe it's for better. You don't think about it -- full concentration on the game. But it would be interesting to play in Milan or Manchester United. It is a big honor to play in a prestigeous club wwhich in any tournament fights only for a victory and considers anything else to bee a failure.

-- What championship is the closest in spirit to you?

-- Italian. This is the strongest league. If you can perform there -- you are a player.

-- Why many of our players play poorly abroad?

-- Here - one is under control. There -- it's up to him. Much depends how one perceives that freedom. There -- a player is responsible for himself. This is, btw, the content of the professionalism.

-- Do you feel scared on the field any time?

-- No. To feel it during the game is... Well, it's better not to come out on a pitch at all. Always, at every instant one should give all of himself to the gaame, one shouldn't avoid the fight. Cowards are unacceptable by the team and they don't stay long. I never surrender. I fight to the end, if I have strength, I try to finish any opportunity to the end.

-- Have you ever felt superiority on the field?

-- It's rather not a superiority, but the level of Dynamo is higher than of its opponents in the Ukrainian Premier League. And for our competitors it's vice a versa -- there is not better motivation than Kyiv, they come out on a pitch as to their "last fight". They get big bonuses for points taken from Dynamo, everything is forgiven for the victory over Dynamo.

-- What is your favorite spot for the shot? How do you score most often?

-- From the goal-line! (Laughing). Mainly, on a cross from a flank, break-through, fast first touch before defenders. The start speed is necessary, constant movement, search for a ball...

-- Are you a gentleman on a field?

-- I play practically always the ball, correctly, not aiming at feet. But if it is competitive -- can meet with toughness.

-- You are the penalti specialist in Dynamo and the National Team. Do you have special secrets?

-- I never shoot into a certain corner. When I set up a ball on the mark, then I decide how to kick it.

-- You often "earn" penaltis yourself, and then convert them...

-- I don't fall in the penalti box by myseelf. Falling and diving is an art! One needs a special cunning. Look, Inzaghi, Del Piero -- they are masters of getting penaltis.

-- The most exciting moment of your carrier was the game vs Spartak Moscow in 1994. Was their any game when the fate of the Team depended on you, but you missed your chance?

-- In the WC-98 qualifying game vs Germany. If the ball hit the net, not the post, everything could have gone differently for us. Certainly, I could have passed the ball, but I think I made a right decision. Bad luck.

-- How is Lobanovsky-coach? Is it difficult to interact with him?

-- A man who achieved so much and accomplished so much for the country is worth of respect just because of that. Nobody disagrees with him. He returned and our training loads increased 2-3 times, we started working with much higher return. In the season of 1997/98 we showed not a bad play. You see, when a coach with name comes, it is easier to work. You understand why it is needed.

-- Do you have a goal achieving which you will say "Basta! Can't go higher!"?


-- What is the most memorable prize for you?

-- The Crystal Ball of the best Ukrainian Player of the Year. And also -- an ordinary leather ball presented me by Serhi Konovalov who just returned from Korea.

-- Do you have some free time?

-- Practically -- no. Free time now are interviews, journalists. Anticipating your question -- yes it annoys. Sometimes I want to leave everything and go home.

-- And vacations?

-- Summer vacations are short. No rest. In winter there is time to go somewhere. But then -- work and work and again work. And I dream about fishing...

-- Do you go to theatres, concerts?

-- When I had more time, certainly, I did it, alone or with friends. But now I just don't have such a possibility. -- And music?

-- I like practically everything. If there is some time -- I listen to music, but I don't have any specific feeling. -- Do you like pets?

-- I love them! But don't keep them at home. Probably because of pity that they will be tired of me.

-- You visited many countries. What did you like the best?

-- Switzerland. I liked the level of life, everything is made for a human being. America -- is so-so. Very dirty. But in general -- all countries are interesting.

-- What will be you path after football?

-- It is too early to think about it. If I will be a coach -- then never the head-coach. This is very hard, so many nerves, constant emotionss... You are more responsible for the team than its players! I'm not fit for this.

-- Are you a happy man?

-- Yes! When I met a girl who believes in me and waits for me, it became easier for me to play and endure these training camps. I'd like to spend more time in the family, but it doesn't happen so often. But -- sonner or later it will all settle down.



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