One more Ukrainian football star launches esports organization — we asked captain all hows and whys

Today, the well-known Ukrainian footballer Yevhen Konoplyanka announced his Counter-Strike team lineup. It consists exclusively of Ukrainian players who will now play under the tag kONO.ECF. The team lineup is as follows:

• Yaroslav "byr9" Buryak 
• Kyrylo "s4ltovsk1yy" Litvinov 
• Artem "kensizor" Kapran 
• Zahar "polbandana" Siledchik
• Denis "amster"Liashenko

After the official announcement, our editorial team interviewed the team captain, Yaroslav "byr9" Buryak.

Hello, hello! Congratulations on signing, on the announcement, I hear you're very happy. How do you feel about this announcement, this event?

— Yes, definitely. We've been looking forward to this day for almost three months.

How did you find out about this process, that such an opportunity exists for you and the like?

— It was about a week after we became ex-Eneida. We launched the presentation right away. We had a team, and our psychologist stayed with us.

He said he would help us and look for options as well. Our manager also said he's with us. We told him: 'Okay, make the presentation.' And he did.

From what I know, Yevhen Konoplyanka has been following this for a long time, and he's well-informed about the events. They wrote to us almost immediately, it was about a week later. Others wrote to us as well. Well, on Twitter there and European organizations, some were just interested.

People wrote to us who wanted to try something in esports. But these are businessmen who are not very knowledgeable about it. But when we heard that Yevhen and Oleg “WALKER” were involved, who has always been winning in FIFA, they contacted us, we talked. The conditions were more or less suitable. So, this is the development we are seeing from one side.

Do you have any conversations with investors regarding certain minimum goals? How much time do you have on the project to achieve certain results?

— Of course, the goals are the most ambitious. Making it to the major is considered a goal, but here there isn't that kind of pressure. They understand that we are a young team, we have young players, some are older and have also made their way, but they don't press us too hard in terms of goals.

Now we communicate every week, we have calls and we discuss the events that are happening there. We discuss various topics and keep improving from game to game, analyzing certain moments and just moving forward. It's okay to lose, it’s part of the experience. The main thing is that there shouldn't be any stagnation.

Amster is back in the lineup. Congratulations on the addition. You've known each other since the days of EC Kyiv, if my memory serves me right, even before that. What does amster bring to the team, why do you call him into the lineup when possible? What’s the benefit for the team, what value does he bring?

— Yes, I've known him since 2016. And I'm very glad that when there were tough times in EC Kyiv, when he was removed from the lineup, he was able to prove himself in another team, he has become more mature, more independent, a self-sufficient player. And he has good skills that fit his position.

He's reliable. He has a good sense of timing for lurking, for example, he's a team player, he has the right priorities. On his position, he's a good anchor, a lurker. And importantly, he also boosts the team’s morale. And in a tough moment in the game. I remember from the old days, and here we are only confirming that in some difficult moments his intuition, his sense of the moment can objectively change the course of the game.

I remember his highlights when he was at B8 in RMR.

— All his clutches.

What were your requirements for the organization? What did you need to receive from the people who are running the organization?

— First and foremost, the resources to exist. Conditions that allow us to live normally. Stable salary. This was not the most important criterion for us to be able to, we're all adults, independent life and other things. Yes, but the people from sports. Oleg is esports, Yevhen is big sports. And the sports logic is present. There’s psychology. And what they can give us that we might lack. It's not just about playing Counter-Strike.

But it's like a competition and many things overlap in their activities as well. And to get invaluable experience from their advice and discussing moments, support is also very important.

Because if there was a foreign organization, I would be perceived as a hired player. Like if we don't achieve results, they won't support us. If we just keep losing, they might not support us. Yes, because we're hired like in a foreign land. And plus. It's much cooler with your own, I'm sure.

It is not yet known what the first match or tournament for the new team will be, but the guys have already started working hard and promise to show up very soon.