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Mircea Lucescu: Rather no than "da" for Loboda

27-08-10 19:09:16

In the evening, August 27, Shakhtar held an open training session at their base Kirsha. On the eve of the match with Illichivets, FC Shakhtar head coach Mircea Lucescu answered the journalists' questions.

- What changes took place in the team? Is Aghahowa already in Sevastopol?
- Yes, he went to Sevastopol on loan. We have many players, and it was difficult for him to play. So we took this decision to provide him with playing practice. We will see his playing there.

- Is it a true information that Shakhtar may sign Heinrich Mkhitaryan?
- Prior to the transfer window deadline there is still time. Therefore, on the transfers, we will speak on Monday. Meanwhile, I can not tell you anything.

- Is Kravchenko going to play against Shakhtar?
- All four of our loaned players who are in Illichivets can play against Shakhtar. I have never banned that. On the contrary, I'll be glad to see what form they will be able to play against us on.

- During Sunday's match there will be a performance by a well-known Ukrainian singer Svetlana Loboda. Are not you afraid that she somehow will distract the players from the match and this will affect their concentration?
- (Laughs.) I will try to make sure that they will not see her performance and during that time they will be getting ready for the game. In other countries, the club anthem is sung by a famous soprano or by popular singers. Maybe we will come to this one time. And the players must concentrate on the game and what happens at the stadium should not affect them.

- Last year, both games with Illichivets appeared to be very difficult for you. In Donetsk, you even had to come back from one goal behind…
- I remember those games. Each game has its own history. Our players just need to understand that in this championship there will not be easy matches. It is necessary that they do not think now about the national teams and the Champions League and stay focused only on the championship game with Illichivets. Surely, opponent will be very motivated. This is normal, given that they will play vs. Shakhtar at Donbass Arena. We are preparing for a very tight game. We also need these three points very much, and we will do our best to add them to our piggy bank.

- The game will be held on the Miner's Day. Will it give more motivation to the players?
- I know that all the guys have a lot of respect for this day. Naturally, they will show their best qualities to the public in order to achieve a good result. I also know what this celebration means to the city and the region. I can wish all miners great-great health and success in their work. This is the most important thing. Miner’s work is very heavy. Let God make their work less risky. The profession of coal miner is to be respected like no other.

- Mr. Lucescu, What is your view on the Shakhtar’s rivals in the group of the Champions League?
- I think it is a decent group. For us, the most unknown opponent is Braga. But from the information that reached me, we can say that this is a good team, which easily saw off Celtic and quite unexpectedly beat Sevilla. They have too many Brazilian players, and one can certainly say that this is a very technical team. They have a young coach who instilled into his players technical style of play that brings them great results. I do not think that it will be easy. It is good that we start at home. We have to win this home game. But Partizan is not the team it was last year. Those results, which they showed in the championship, and in the qualifying round, are proving that this is a completely different team. Then, we will have two away matches, in which we must take the points if we are to progress further.

- In early September, you are going to Nyon. What conference is it going to be?
- This is annual symposium, which involves the elite coaches in Europe. The last three years I received an invitation, but, unfortunately, could not get there. This time, Andy Roxburgh personally asked me to come to this conference. This is more for the image.