The career of this footballer, who signed a contract this summer with Portugal's champion, Benfica, looks completely unconventional. It is generally believed that all more or less talented graduates of Ukrainian football sooner or later end up at Dynamo Kyiv. Andrei Karyaka bypassed the lineup of our flagship, but that does not mean that his person did not deserve attention.
The fact is that Dynamo simply missed out on this swift midfielder. And since the Ukrainian national team for a long time was formed on the principle "you don't play for Dynamo or Shakhtar - you don't play for the national team," Karyaka was also missed by the coaches of the country's main team. For which, as informed people claim, some were seriously punished.
For those football fans who try to closely follow the development of the game of millions in Ukraine, the hero of the little scandal that broke out in the spring of 2001 was not a dark horse. Andrei Karyaka, without wishing it, became the subject of disputes among the coaching staffs of three national teams at once - Ukraine, Russia, and Uzbekistan. Now it is difficult to say with absolute precision who was the first to think about the feasibility of attracting the 23-year-old midfielder, who had unleashed his talent at Samara's Krylia Sovetov, to the national team of his country. It is only known that the well-known specialist Vladimir Salkov, who headed the Uzbekistan national team, proposed to Karyaka, who had not been capped by the Ukraine team (Andrei had played only one friendly match for the youth team of our country), to change his passport. A native of Dnipropetrovsk refused, doubting the expediency of "burning bridges" and becoming a citizen of Uzbekistan.
Perhaps already at that time he knew about the interest shown by the coaches of the Russian national team. Oleg Romantsev and Mikhail Gershkovich, who led the Russian national team, noticed a footballer with a cheerful surname who had until then been unknown in Russia and had brightly shown himself in the "Wings". They remembered Andrei in Ukraine too, but in the staff of Valery Lobanovsky there was no one who could clearly say whether Karyaka had been capped for the Ukrainian national team or not. In Kyiv they relied on chance, and when it turned out that Karyaka could already play for Russia, an avalanche of criticism fell on the footballer. They say it's unpatriotic, betrayed the homeland, and all that. However, the player himself was indifferent to the reaction of the Ukrainian football leadership. Firstly, if there had been serious interest, then the approach to solving the issue would not have smacked of amateurism (unlike the Russian version of the approach). Secondly, the Russian national team had more chances to go to the World Cup than the Ukrainian team (and indeed it went, although without Karyaka).
So how did it happen that another product of Ukrainian football (before Karyaka, natives of Ukraine such as Onopko, Nikiforov, Tsymbalar, Yuran, Nizhegorodov, Semak, Aldonin, Shcherbakov, Pomazun, and many others had adopted Russian citizenship) came to defend the colors of the Russian flag? The whole thing is that in the Ukrainian championship Andrei played not for the most star-studded clubs. Getting into the national team from Zaporizhzhia's Metalurh or Kyiv's CSKA in the second half of the 90s is like a camel going through the eye of a needle.
Karyaka was born in Dnipropetrovsk, which experienced a football boom in the 80s. The local Dnipro became the champion of the USSR twice - in 1983 and 1988 - and repeatedly entered the top three, in 1989 won the USSR Cup and performed well in European competitions. Not surprisingly, little Andrei was crazy about the play of Gennadiy Litovchenko and Oleg Protasov, and at the age of seven began training in the football section of his native city. However, he never got to play for the Dnipropetrovsk team. In 1995 he was invited to Zaporizhzhia to strengthen the local youth team, which was fighting for the title of champion of Ukraine in its age category. In the decisive match, Karyaka scored an incredible goal from about 40 meters, after which he was offered to stay at Metalurh. Already the next year, the poorly performing club decided on an experiment and gave a chance to young footballers who made a splash in the top Ukrainian league. The names of Karyaka, Krypak, Oleinik, Ilchenko, and their partners became popular among coaches, and two years later all four were, not without scandal, called up for military service and transferred to Kyiv CSKA.
Karyaka recalls the army stage of his career without much pleasure. Despite the invitation to the youth national team, reaching the final of the Ukrainian Cup, and his debut in European competitions. The thing is that Andrei suffered a serious injury, after which he thought about ending his football career. A doctor, an admirer of Tibetan medicine, rescued him, who not only put the footballer back on his feet but also gave him a chance to continue his career, which began to develop at a rapid pace. In the summer of 2000, Andrei had a chance to go for a trial in Samara - instead of his injured teammate Daraselia. Karyaka made an excellent impression on the coaches of Krylia Sovetov and signed a long-term contract, which he began to fulfill only six months later. But with such energy that the footballer from a provincial club was noticed by three national teams at once, as already mentioned above.
As is known, Karyaka chose Russia and does not regret it. He played a lot for Krylya, was one of the team's leaders, its best scorer (despite his role as a midfielder, not a forward), and was regularly called up to the national team, with which he qualified for the 2004 European Championship. It was his successful play in the Russian Championship and for the national team that earned Andrei the attention of scouts from a number of foreign clubs. Even in the summer of last year, before Euro 2004, a queue of buyers formed for Karyaka, who had scored 14 goals in the first round of the Russian Championship. The midfielder even went on a trial to England, to the well-known club Blackburn. But he stayed at Krylyshki, extending his contract with the Samara club until 2009, as was announced in early July 2004. "I am happy to stay at Krylya - the club that opened the doors to big-time sport and the Russian national team for me," Karyaka said at a press conference dedicated to this event. "I would very much like to win something with the team."
At the same press conference, the president of the Samara club, German Tkachenko (who, incidentally, is also a native of Ukraine), noted that he would not hinder Andrei if a good European club invited him: "We maintain the agreement that we will let Karyaka go if he has a concrete and promising option to move to a serious European club, if the offer from abroad suits both the player and our club."
Having not let go of one of his best footballers last summer, Tkachenko was forced to do so in June 2005. Serious financial problems hit Krylya Sovetov, prompting the president to hand over power to other hands, and also to sell a number of key players, the first of whom was Karyaka. Portugal's Benfica, which had been interested in the player as early as 2004, ultimately got the footballer, winning the race against the English clubs. Andrei had even been on trial at Blackburn in 2003, and there was also talk of a possible move to Chelsea, explained by the friendship between German Tkachenko and Roman Abramovich.
At that time Karyaka claimed that playing in England was the dream of any Russian footballer (a few years earlier Andrei considered the Spanish championship the most attractive): "When I learned there was an option to go on trial to Blackburn, I was very surprised. I did not expect such a solid club to notice me. How did I perform? It could have been better. There was very little time, and at first I felt constrained. If there had been another week, I could have shown myself much better. However, coach Graeme Souness was friendly and helped me. And I was very afraid that the British do not favor visitors. But everything turned out to be much simpler. Perhaps the stereotype of English primness and arrogance is outdated. At least, I did not feel it. Of course, the difference in the level of play between Russian and English championship footballers was felt. But I did not get the feeling that this gap is insurmountable. If you work a lot and correctly, you can achieve any goal."
The Englishmen promised to follow the play of the Russian midfielder, who scored a goal in a friendly match, but did not show concrete interest when the situation demanded it. Benfica, however, was more persistent. Despite the fact that last season it was coached by Italian Giovanni Trapattoni, and this summer it was headed by Dutchman Ronald Koeman (after all, different views on football, different approaches to squad building), Karyaka turned out to be interesting to both coaches. And in the end he signed a four-year contract with the Portuguese champions.
"Why did I choose Benfica?" Andrei asks journalists in turn. "Why, is it a bad option? The conditions offered by the Portuguese suited Krylya. They say that in Russia there was decent demand for me, but personally I did not notice it. Rumors turned out to be just rumors, nothing more. None of the Russian Premier League clubs made a concrete offer. I specifically asked our management about this. I think I have nothing to complain about. Except that I am a bit worried - I am going to an unfamiliar place, I am anxious about how everything will turn out."
Karyaka's worries, it seems, were in vain. In Portugal he is already being called "Russian gold," and the hero himself, now in the local media's sights, regularly appears in Benfica's friendly matches and receives excellent reviews for his play. Portuguese journalists call Andrei the leader of the club's attacks, note his versatility, technique, ability to read the game, and focus on goal. Some believe that the Russian has every chance to become "one of the trump cards in Koeman's deck."
In a conversation with journalists, Karyaka was pleased to note that almost a full stadium watched Benfica's friendly matches, despite the fact that the matches were not taking place in Portugal: "Koeman has assigned me a position in the middle of the field, closer to the left flank, so I feel very good. But what surprised me was the large number of track-and-field exercises. I have never run so much at training camps as here. Maybe only when I played in Ukraine. We have two training sessions a day. And such that afterwards you collapse. They say that before Koeman, it was easier at Benfica in this regard. I am gradually learning Portuguese. At the training camp I have to manage without an interpreter. Maybe it's for the better. Back in Russia I bought a dictionary, first of all I learned 'hello' and 'thank you,' and the Samara Brazilians taught me a few unprintable expressions. True, I mostly communicate with my partners in English - with those who know the language. And with Koeman I find it easier to speak English.
"What else can I mention? I studied the contract back in Samara (they sent me a draft of the agreement). Then I flew to Lisbon, where I first had a medical examination, then signed the contract, then had another medical examination. The eye test turned out to be funny - the letters were not ours, but Latin. I saw that for the first time. By the way, there is a clause in the contract according to which I can be sent on loan - but only with my consent."
Karyaka's most serious problem now is loneliness. He misses his wife Ruslana and little daughter Lisa very much, although he calls them several times a day. In Lisbon, the club put Andrei up in a hotel, and then Benfica went to training camp. But closer to the start of the season, the housing issue will be resolved, and his wife, whom the footballer met in Kyiv, will join her husband.