Kucher: Shakhtar remains forever in my heart
Saturday, June 3, 2017
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The legendary defender has recalled the years he spent in the team and thanked the management, coaches, teammates and fans in his interview to shakhtar.com
- Olexandr, 11 years at one club – that’s more than devotion. What does Shakhtar mean to you?
- Shakhtar remains forever in my heart. I gave the club years of my career, it means a lot to me and it did a lot for me. I am grateful to the president Rinat Leonidovich Akhmetov. He is an ambitious person who always sets maximum goals and this motivates all the club employees and players. Thanks to him, Shakhtar these days is not just the best team in Ukraine, but a real European club with great prospects. I am also grateful to Mircea Lucescu, Paulo Fonseca, all the coaches and people I worked with all those years.
- Remember please the Shakhtar you joined in 2006. How much has it changed over these 11 years?
- Shakhtar has always tried to develop and progress. And together with the club we, football the players, grew professionally. Already then the president set big goals for the team: winning the league title, a European competition. We’ve achieved all this together. Every title, every trophy was of great importance. A lot of work stands behind all those titles. All the championships were challenging, we fought and gave a lot of energy. But the team always wanted to win every tournament.
- The Miners celebrated most of their successes with their fans at the Donbass Arena. Did it really inspire victories?
- Of course, when you play at home, in front of the filled stands, in such a magnificent stadium, you just can’t wish for better. We all really miss the Donbass Arena and our fans. Their support was of great importance to us, it was an important contribution to the team's victories. I’d very much like to play at the Donbass Arena again. Each of us dreams about that, believes and hopes that Shakhtar will return home, to Donetsk.
- Shakhtar must have become for you not just teammates and friends, but a real family?
- Yes, we’ve always had a good team. All these years, there has been a great atmosphere in the team, and we’ve really been like one family. I will miss them. I want to thank all the teammates, because in football the result is not produced by one person, but by a team. And without the guys’ assistance, I wouldn’t have become such a professional. Thank them!
- You’ve become a true idol for the Donetsk fans, because your performance reflects the character of the team: you always act boldly, uncompromisingly, honestly. What would you like to say to Shakhtar fans?
- I’ve got only words of great gratitude for the fans: for the fact that at all times they have come to the stadium and rooted for the team, living through all the failures with us and sharing the joy of victories. Thank them for treating me well and supporting me. I will always remember them and I will always be a big fan of Shakhtar myself!
- Shakhtar remains forever in my heart. I gave the club years of my career, it means a lot to me and it did a lot for me. I am grateful to the president Rinat Leonidovich Akhmetov. He is an ambitious person who always sets maximum goals and this motivates all the club employees and players. Thanks to him, Shakhtar these days is not just the best team in Ukraine, but a real European club with great prospects. I am also grateful to Mircea Lucescu, Paulo Fonseca, all the coaches and people I worked with all those years.
- Remember please the Shakhtar you joined in 2006. How much has it changed over these 11 years?
- Shakhtar has always tried to develop and progress. And together with the club we, football the players, grew professionally. Already then the president set big goals for the team: winning the league title, a European competition. We’ve achieved all this together. Every title, every trophy was of great importance. A lot of work stands behind all those titles. All the championships were challenging, we fought and gave a lot of energy. But the team always wanted to win every tournament.
- The Miners celebrated most of their successes with their fans at the Donbass Arena. Did it really inspire victories?
- Of course, when you play at home, in front of the filled stands, in such a magnificent stadium, you just can’t wish for better. We all really miss the Donbass Arena and our fans. Their support was of great importance to us, it was an important contribution to the team's victories. I’d very much like to play at the Donbass Arena again. Each of us dreams about that, believes and hopes that Shakhtar will return home, to Donetsk.
- Shakhtar must have become for you not just teammates and friends, but a real family?
- Yes, we’ve always had a good team. All these years, there has been a great atmosphere in the team, and we’ve really been like one family. I will miss them. I want to thank all the teammates, because in football the result is not produced by one person, but by a team. And without the guys’ assistance, I wouldn’t have become such a professional. Thank them!
- You’ve become a true idol for the Donetsk fans, because your performance reflects the character of the team: you always act boldly, uncompromisingly, honestly. What would you like to say to Shakhtar fans?
- I’ve got only words of great gratitude for the fans: for the fact that at all times they have come to the stadium and rooted for the team, living through all the failures with us and sharing the joy of victories. Thank them for treating me well and supporting me. I will always remember them and I will always be a big fan of Shakhtar myself!