“I came to say goodbye to my friend. This is a big tragedy for all of us. We went through 12 years with him, won 22 trophies, the UEFA Cup. He was my friend, and I am proud of our friendship,” Akhmetov said in a comment to the Romanian publication Digi Sport. “I think you should be proud that you had Mircea Lucescu, a great coach and a great man who lived a happy life. He could not live without work.”
Akhmetov added that he came to Bucharest to pay tribute to Lucescu as a great coach, a great man and his friend.
The Romanian publication Fanatik notes that the president of FC Shakhtar arrived to say goodbye with a bouquet of red flowers. After standing for a few seconds in front of Lucescu's coffin, he approached his family to express his condolences.
Video: AntenaSport / YouTube
In a commentary to Prima Sport, Akhmetov warmly recalled how Lucescu taught him to drink wine, and he taught him to sing karaoke.
“We experienced a lot of bright moments. He taught me to drink wine. While Mircea was away, I was a teetotaler, but when Mircea came to us in Donetsk, we always drank white wine after the games. He then told me: “President, you are so worried that someday you will die right during the match. Therefore, after the game, you must definitely drink white wine with me.” And I taught him to sing karaoke – neither I nor he succeeded. But we sang anyway,” Akhmetov touchingly shared his memories.
Photo: EPA
Photo: EPA
Photo: EPA
Photo: EPA
Photo: EPA
Context
Lucescu worked for Shakhtar Donetsk for 12 years (2004–2016). He is the most decorated coach in Shakhtar history, having won a total of 22 trophies at the head of the Donetsk team, including the 2008/09 UEFA Cup.
Since 2020, Lucescu has led Dynamo Kiev. After Lucescu's appointment head coach of Dynamo the team received all three national trophies: Super Bowl Ukraine, UPL Championship, Ukrainian Cup. He announced his departure from Dynamo after the Kiev team lost the match with Shakhtar (0:1) on November 3, 2023.
