Denis Boyko Comments on the Death of Mircea Lucescu

Denis Boyko, the former goalkeeper of Kyiv's Dynamo and the Ukrainian national team, could not hold back his emotions while commenting on the tragic news of the death of legendary coach Mircea Lucescu. The renowned Romanian specialist, who left a substantial impact on Ukrainian football, passed away, marking a profound loss for the entire football world.

"This is a very difficult day. Without exaggeration, the world has lost, first and foremost, a wonderful person. A father, a grandfather, a husband, a friend, a coach… I truly followed the developments, communicated with players, with friends, and was informed by close people about his condition since the moment of hospitalization. This is a person to whom I am not indifferent," Boyko noted, emphasizing the depth of his sorrow.

Denis Boyko also highlighted the difficulty of coming to terms with the fact that the world has lost such a legendary figure. "It is indeed hard. No matter how anyone felt about this person, the world has lost a legendary personality. A person with a capital letter. This is a tremendous loss for all of football, and especially for Ukrainian football. To some extent, he changed our football. He gave so much to every player who had the opportunity to work with him," the goalkeeper added.

Boyko pointed out that the reaction from the football community to Mircea Lucescu's death was unanimous. "Right now, I am looking at the internet, social media — there is probably not a single indifferent person in the football world who has not bid farewell to Mister. It is a very painful loss," he said, stressing that Lucescu left a deep mark in the hearts of many.

The goalkeeper also recalled his first meeting with Mircea Lucescu, which took place when he took over Dynamo Kyiv. "My first personal conversation with him occurred when Mister took charge of Dynamo. Before that, we only crossed paths on the football field when he coached Shakhtar. This conversation left a very strong impression on me. He is an open person, honest, absolutely sincere, who dedicated himself entirely to football — sometimes even at the expense of his own family, spending all his time at the training base with the team," Boyko reminisced.

Denis Boyko also emphasized that Mircea Lucescu supported Ukraine during difficult times. "This person supported Ukraine so strongly at the beginning of the full-scale war, our people, our families, and our servicemen… His contribution cannot be overestimated. He helped absolutely everyone in any way he could: both financially and with his influence," the goalkeeper noted, highlighting Lucescu's significant contributions to Ukrainian society.

Boyko also recalled how during their first conversation, Lucescu clearly and humanely defined his role in the club. "During our first conversation, Lucescu clearly and humanely outlined my role in the club and my importance to him. There are very few such open people who say everything as it is. It simply amazed me," he shared, emphasizing that such openness was a rarity in the world of football.

Of course, at first, many players had some misunderstanding about how a coach who had worked for so many years at the main competitor — Shakhtar, could come to the club where you grew up. "But he completely devoted himself to the work," Boyko concluded, expressing his respect and gratitude towards Mircea Lucescu.

Earlier, it was reported that Serhiy Rebrov also emotionally reacted to Lucescu's death, mentioning the competition in Ukrainian football, which underscores how profound and significant this coach's influence was on the entire football community.