On May 14 soccer fans at the UEFA Cup final watched with rapt attention as Zenit (St. Petersburg, Russia) battled it out with the Glasgow Rangers (Glasgow, Scotland). Zenit’s victory caused quite a ripple in the hearts of Volyn soccer fans because the Lutsk-born Anatolii Tymoshchuk plays for the Russian club. Anatolii recently brought this the most important trophy of his career to his hometown.
Lutsk was looking forward to this event. On the morning of the day Tymoshchuk was to arrive with the cup, the local stadium was filled to capacity, an unheard-of event in the past few years. But then the schedule of Tymoshchuk’s visit was altered by President Yushchenko. When the Zenit captain’s car was approaching Zhytomyr on the way from Kyiv to Lutsk, Tymoshchuk received a phone call from the Presidential Secretariat inviting him to meet Ukraine’s head of state. So he had to make a U-turn and drive back to the capital, where he was solemnly awarded the national title of Meritorious Figure of Physical Culture. So as not to deprive Lutsk of the pleasure of seeing the UEFA Cup, the president offered Anatolii a ride on his personal helicopter to fly to Lutsk.
Once in Lutsk, Tymoshchuk brought the cup to Liubart Castle. After watching a dramatized scene on Castle Square, the Ukrainian soccer star was driven through the city streets to Avangard Stadium, where he took his first adult steps in soccer as a member of the local Volyn club. The waiting fans had a chance to be photographed with the cup, and then they mobbed Anatolii in the hopes of getting his autograph. Although Tymoshchuk’s father Oleksandr was standing nearby the whole time, he didn’t spend a single second with his son that day.
Do you feel hurt because Anatolii has no time for his family?
"No, I am used to this. I am aware that Anatolii is very busy. He is supposed to come again in June for a few days, so we will see each other then. He tries to keep in touch with us. He phones every day."
Did you attend the UEFA Cup final?
"Yes. My wife Nadia, my brother-in-law Ihor, and I traveled to Manchester via Saint Petersburg, where we were issued visas. In order to issue visas to all the sports fans who were traveling to the UEFA Cup final, the staff of the British Consulate in St. Petersburg worked around the clock for 10 days. A special day was reserved for the relatives of the Zenit players. It took us no more than 30 minutes to finalize our documents. A Gazprom-sponsored charter flight flew us to England, and we sat near Zenit’s reserve bench."
Who sat next to you on the stands?
"At the stadium we were introduced to Gorshkov’s wife and Pohrebniak’s father. Among those who were cheering the team was Anatolii’s friend Andrii Voronin, who had come from Liverpool. We were especially friendly with Mikhail Boyarsky (popular Russian actor - Ed. ), who is a big fan of Zenit. He sat next to us. Boyarsky made a very good impression on me. I was surprised by the fact that he didn’t put on airs."
Which of Anatolii’s matches can be compared with the UEFA Cup final as far as emotional strain is concerned?
"Probably the world championship game between the national teams of Ukraine and Switzerland. Like then, this time we were worried because there were no goals almost down to the wire. We only started believing in a victory when the score was 2:0 in Zenit’s favor."
Most players believe in omens that indicate the likely result of a game. Do players’ parents have any presentiments?
"Honestly, I don’t. But my wife is a different story: she has an inner voice. Nadia almost always correctly guesses the result of a game involving Anatolii. For the game against the Glasgow Rangers, she predicted Zenit’s victory with a score of 1:0. And she also said that the goal would be scored at the end of the game."
What were Anatolii’s first words when you saw him after the match?
"Once the final whistle was blown, he ran up to us to share his joy. I don’t remember what he said. We threw ourselves at him and nearly choked him."
When your son was accepting the cup, he was wrapped in a Ukrainian flag. Did he take it with him on purpose?
"I was the one who brought him the flag. It is a memorable one for our family because we had it with us at the world championship in Germany. We were staying in an isolated little house, and we hung that large flag on the outside of the house and took a smaller one to the stadium in Manchester, where we handed it over to Anatolii."
What does patriotism mean to Anatolii?
"My wife and I tried to instill this feeling in him. I think we succeeded. He loves the Ukrainian flag. Even in Russia, he speaks to his wife Nadia only in Ukrainian. Anatolii is proud of having been born in Ukraine."
What are some of Anatolii’s traits that help him achieve such great results?
"He is very hard-working and stubborn. When Anatolii was little, we would play soccer in the house. The sofa was my net and the inside door was his net. I never played down to him. Whenever Anatolii lost, he would get insulted and complain to his mother. After he started attending soccer school, he never missed a class no matter what the weather."
Winning the UEFA Cup is huge achievement. But many soccer players often lose their motivation after such a big victory. What is Anatolii’s dream?
"He wants to win the Champions League. Naturally, it will be difficult to do this in Zenit. So he is not against changing clubs. He loves English soccer. There have already been a few offers from the Premier League, but not from the clubs where he could achieve something. Anatolii is waiting for some better offers and has already learned English. If he’s lucky, Lutsk will get the chance to see the Champions Cup."
