Midfielder of the national team of Ukraine Yevgeny Konoplyanka gave an extensive interview to the German edition.

Schalke's midfielder before going to the camp of the national team of Ukraine to prepare for the match selection for the 2018 World Cup against Kosovo and Croatia, talked with journalist Schalker Kreisel.

- How do you like to spend your free time?.

- I like to play tennis, sometimes badminton against my wife. But it does not give me much pleasure, because she was the champion of Ukraine. I have fast legs, but against it I can not take even one point.

- They say that sleep is a sacred matter for you.. For what you can wake up in the middle of the night?.

What does it mean for what? Now I regularly get up in the middle of the night. While my wife is feeding our son, I sleep in another room with my daughter. If at night she starts to toss, I immediately see if everything is fine. Every father loves his children, but no one as much as me.

"Have you always been a married man?".

- One hundred percent. After I left my homeland, this feeling became even stronger. Nothing is more important than family.

- You grew up with the industrial city of Kirovograd. What did your life look like?.

- My parents really wanted the school to play an important role in my life, but I only had football in my head. I played in a small, little-known club, we did not even have a normal form. In the locker room stood a box in which the parents threw money. If they were enough, then we went to the tournament. If not, then you had to stay at home.

- What was the most memorable of your childhood?.

- Being a Schalker probably is not worth it, but I will say: my yellow boots. I got them as a gift after a big tournament in Kiev, where I was recognized as the best player. No one counted on us, but in the final we beat the top favorites with a score of 8: 0, I scored five goals. I was so proud of these boots that I took them to bed when I went to bed. Before that, I had only one black, already very battered and with holes.

- What kind of profession did your parents represent for you?.

- They wanted me to become a karate, and at the age of six they took me to the first training. But I quit this occupation. I never wanted to break bricks. Fortunately, my parents understood this. Today they are quite happy with my work. As a father I want to say that it is very important to occupy something with a child, while not forcing him. But if the children themselves do not know what they want, then the father decides.