“The Carpathians have one task – to reach the Premier League”

Denis Kozhanov, 35-year-old midfielder of Karpaty Lviv, spoke about the preparation of the team for the start of the spring part of the season in the First League.

– Denis, on April 8 Karpaty will host Kremin. What is the mood of the team for this match?
– First, I want to thank our Armed Forces of Ukraine that we have the opportunity to prepare for the championship. As for our preparation, everyone is looking forward to the match against Flint, because the pause of four months is quite long. Karpaty had a good training camp. First, they prepared in Lvov, and then held two training camps in Transcarpathia in a row. Both in Khust and in Uzhgorod they had good conditions. During this time, we had a lot of good sparring, where the coaching staff gave everyone the opportunity to play.

– What sparrings became the most difficult in the preparatory period?
– I would not focus on specific matches, because in each game the coaches changed the composition. All players were under a certain load. I note that all the teams were especially tuned in to us, because they wanted to show what they are capable of. So, we can say about FC Khust, which plays in the Second League. Once we drew 1:1, and in another game we lost 0:1. I would like to note a good sparring in Lviv with Niva Ternopil. We always had the initiative, led the score, but played 1:1.

– Would you note, perhaps, an excellent victory over the representative of the UPL “Veres” in Rivne 3:0?
– You always want to play with strong teams, where you can see what you can do. We skillfully realized our opportunities and won. In fact, this game was the result of all training camps. But the key goal of this match was charity, namely, raising funds for our defenders undergoing treatment and rehabilitation at the Rivne Regional War Veterans Hospital. Fans of “Veres” and “Karpaty” collected 152 thousand hryvnia to help the defenders of Ukraine!

– In the winter period, experienced players from the Ukrainian Premier League joined the team. How were they received in the team?
– We have one task – to reach the Premier League. Therefore, the coaching staff tried to strengthen the team with experienced players. All the guys – Ilyushchenkov, Sakiv, Gorbunov, Knysh, Bobko and Khoblenko joined our friendly team without any problems. In my opinion, they will help Karpaty.

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2023-04-04 10:42:00