The head coach of Ukraine's national team, Oleksandr Petrakov, celebrates his 65th birthday today. The coach of the blue and yellow is not a fan of celebrations, especially in such difficult times. Therefore, he is marking this day on business travel that he started two days before his birthday.

— Mr. Oleksandr Vasylovych, happy birthday to you! 65 — is kind of a half-silver jubilee. How do you perceive and celebrate this date in these challenging times?

— Thank you for the greetings. I'll be frank, without much ado — I can't say that I like this day (smiles). 65... I don't feel 65. In my heart, I'm a young person, working with young boys who energize me positively. So in spirit and soul, I am only young! And also, our coach of Dynamo Kyiv, Mircea Lucescu, sets an example of vigor and energy at the age of 77!

Photo by the press service of the UAF

— And you are celebrating your birthday on business, as you arrived in Poland two days ago to watch the UEFA Conference League qualifier match between "Zorya" and "Universitatea", and have an intense schedule ahead…

— Yes, I watched the match after which I congratulated the head coach of Luhansk Zorya, Patrick van Leeuwen. We've known each other for a long time — since the academy of "Shakhtar". We exchanged a few words and shared thoughts. The next day early morning, I left Lublin to Lodz where I watched Dynamo Kyiv's training session and met with Mircea Lucescu. Today at 4 PM, I will fly from Warsaw to Rome, where on August 7th, I'll watch the friendly match between "Roma" and "Shakhtar". On Monday, I will arrive at the Shakhtar team gathering place — in a well-known Brdo near Slovenia's capital Ljubljana, where our national team held its training camp back in March. There, I will observe the training process of Donetsk players, and on August 9th, I'll travel another 180 km to Austrian Graz to watch the third round qualifier match of the UEFA Champions League between "Sturm" and "Dynamo". And the next day — back: I plan to watch pre-season matches between "Shakhtar" and SC "Dnipro-1" — again in Slovenia.

— Nothing to say about — the busy schedule…

 — But this is not all (smiles). On August 11th, early morning, I will fly to London, to visit Brentford FC...

Photo by the press service of the UAF

— And there works your old friend — Danish coach Thomas Frank…

— Yes, we've crossed paths many times at youth national teams. He's my good friend, and I called him to talk about our Ukrainian player Yegor Zhyrov who joined this London club over the summer. I will be present at the Premier League match between Brentford and Manchester United. And after that, I'll fly back from London to Warsaw, board a coach, and return to Kyiv.

— Today's trip fits into your working style which you started this summer before the full-scale war when you visited all Ukrainian clubs' camps in Turkey. For you, it is very important — to be close to those people who work at Ukrainian clubs, right?

— To say it straight and plainly: club coaches make Ukrainian football. So I consider it my duty — to travel, support them, talk with them, show interest in their affairs, exchange ideas. Although now it's not as easy to visit everyone as it was back in February when all our clubs were preparing in Turkey, and I managed to visit the camps of all 16 UPL teams.

— Today, the geography of Ukrainian FCs' presence is much wider..

— But distance doesn't scare me. This is coaching work. Yesterday I talked with Lucescu and the boys: Mircea invited me to a team dinner, we had a very warm conversation. I want to say that in June, when we lost to Wales, Lucescu called me from Ireland the next day to support me and the players. I am very grateful for that call.

Photo by the press service of the UAF

— Mr. Oleksandr Vasylovych, three matches of the national team during the September gathering will be challenging both in terms of opponents and due to long flights. How do you perceive this stage of competition and what are your expectations?

— In international tournaments, there are no easy games. This is the UEFA Nations League, where one loss can cost dearly. In club work, you might lose somewhere and then recover. But here, if you lose — you're effectively out of contention for group victory. The tournament distance is short, and all matches are decisive. Don't forget that Scotland wants to take revenge on their fans after the playoff defeat. And in Glasgow, due to yellow card accumulation, our two leading players — Zabarnyi and Zinchenko — won't play.

— Scotland wants revenge, while we need to prevent that…

— Exactly. Our task is to secure first place in the group. No matter how difficult the gathering might be, the task must be fulfilled.

Photo by the press service of the UAF

— Are you concerned about long flights?

— Yes, the flight from Glasgow to Yerevan will be tough: six and a half hours of flying plus three-hour time difference... Consequently, there's much less time for recovery after the first game against Scotland. It'll be difficult. I have no secrets — serious rotation is definitely going to happen.

— When do you plan to start the September gathering?

— It's hard to say exactly right now — it depends on how our clubs perform in European competitions. Most likely, we'll gather somewhere near Warsaw around September 16th, with players who are expected to play in European competitions and based in Poland. As for the foreign-based players, I've already scheduled a training session for the evening of September 19th in Glasgow — where the team will assemble in full strength. We'll arrive there flying early morning from Warsaw, while boys from other leagues are expected to join throughout the day.

Photo by the press service of the UAF

— And still — what would you wish for yourself on your birthday?

— I'm convinced that every person should have a dream, because without it, life is impossible. At 65, I have dreams and live by them! First of all, this is our victory over Russia in the war. As for football dreams — there are no secrets here. You know the folk wisdom: "Want to make God laugh — tell him your plans" (laughs). So I dream, I want to achieve something, have many goals. And I want to say directly  — I'm not old, so don't age me (laughs). I am full of strength and energy, working in an important position, feeling great responsibility towards people. In short, I want to achieve a lot, but how it will turn out — I don't know.

Oleksandr Hlyvinskyi, press secretary of the national team of Ukraine