Serhiy REBROV: "I share my title with my teammates"

"On the Maldives. The place is fantastic. I mean it is too beautiful to be true."

"You mean you can relax and forget all your troubles?"

"Well, not quite. We agreed on the place primarily because the Maldives have a good sports complex, a gym, trainers, the works. Rest we did, but we also kept in shape. Also, how could one forget all one's troubles watching the sharks swimming nearby? We were told they didn't touch people, but every time I saw one I'd be out of the water before I knew it."

"Anyway you're back in one piece, thank God. Congratulations! You're Ukraine's best soccer player of the year!"

"Thanks, but I want you to know that I share the kudos with all my teammates, the whole team. In fact, many of them could lay rightful claim to this title."

"What do you think helped you get this title a second time?"

"I did not actually set out to; I just tried to do my best out in the field every time we played."

"Which of the titles is the most important to you, this or the one in 1996?"

"I'd say the present one, because the team didn't play that well the previous time. Now we can all say we have performed well in the second half of the year."

"It was also then you decided to get married, wasn't it? So who has captured the heart of Ukraine's best soccer player?"

"Her name is Liudmyla, and she's from Kyiv. She is a student at - (pauses to ask the girl) yes, the National Academy of Management."

"How do soccer players meet their future wives?"

"It depends. I met Liudmyla in 1997 through friends."

"Let me pose you an advance question: How different is a married soccer player from a single one?"

"It's responsibility. From now on I will be responsible not only for myself, but also for our family. But if you mean how marriage affects one's performance in the field, I'd say very positively. It's like an additional impetus."

"Anything special you could recollect about the past season?"

"Oh, quite a lot of things. We had a very tight schedule, but perhaps getting through to the Champion's League quarterfinals was the most memorable."

"You mean the Arsenal match in London, of course."

"Sure. It proved the turning point."

"Yes, especially your goal at the very last minute. It gave us all hope."

"Time was running short and the score remained murderous; we were trailing one to nothing. That was more than unfair, because we were playing better than Arsenal."

"And then there was Belkevych with his excellent pass."

"Yes, he was in the right place and at the right time, something we always do during workouts. Anyway, if someone says I burst into the penalty area ahead of the pass and that I could foretell it, I won't object."

"And then Valery Lobanovsky got you guys together. What did he say?"

"He said we did fine, he liked it very much, and that from now on everything would depend on us. We concentrated on our performance and gave it everything we had. Lobanovsky must have known that we needed no further spurring, for we already had the taste of victory."

"How did you learn about Madrid's Real being bracketed against Dynamo in the League's quarterfinals, and what was your reaction?"

"I learned the news through the Internet while on the Maldives. My reaction was positive, because the last thing we wanted was the Italian club."

"Who did you discuss the news with first?"

"My fiancee, then with Vashchuk, Kosovsky, and Dmytrulin, I mean all who were on the islands with me. We agreed that Dynamo and Real stood roughly an equal chance, and that we had no more reason to fear them than they did us."

"Comparing future battles with Real and the duel with Juventus this spring, would you think of any positive or negative prospects for Dynamo?"

"Generally speaking, one negative prospect is that Dynamo, with no field practice after the winter break, will face a battle-hardened opponent fresh from the national championships. On the other hand, I think that Dynamo's training cycle is organized so that we can meet Real armed at all points. After all, we proved it tying the game in Turin, didn't we? And the positive aspect is Dynamo's rich experience in such games over the past two years."

"Where a did  you to celebrate the New Year?"

"In the family circle, together with my wife for the first time, because the wedding was scheduled the day before. Friends came, of course. What better way to celebrate?"

"If you could make a wish on the New Year night, knowing it would be fulfilled, what would you wish?"

"I am positive that one can only benefit by wishing others well, so I would raise a glass and say, 'To every family on earth. Love and respect each other and do unto others as you would have others do unto you. If you do, success will come your way.'"