Brought to the cemetery at night: the sports psychologist shares how he helped Bushchan become the number one choice.

Even before becoming the first-choice goalkeeper for Dynamo and the Ukrainian national team, the young keeper faced significant internal barriers. To help him overcome his fears and insecurities, Pyrojenko resorted to an unconventional method – a nighttime trip to a cemetery. This story marked a pivotal moment in Bushchan's psychological transformation.

What exactly did Bushchan experience that night, and how did it impact his journey to becoming the first-choice goalkeeper? Here’s an excerpt from Ivan Pyrojenko's book.

I have known Georgiy since 2018. At that time, he was the goalkeeper for Dynamo Kyiv's reserve team. With his unique physique and solid goalkeeping training, Georgiy was always seen as a promising goalkeeper. Everyone was waiting for him to challenge the main goalkeeper, Denis Boyko. Something was holding Georgiy back from making that leap forward. We needed to figure out what that "something" was, identify it, and, if possible, eliminate the cause.

I immediately noticed issues with his self-esteem and psychology as I regularly communicated with him and delved deeper into his professional and personal history. The concept of being "constantly second" was deeply rooted in his subconscious. He was mentally losing this duel with his opponent and main competitor. This was the direction in which we shaped our subsequent work.

Working with Georgiy was a true pleasure because he listened, heard, and acted on our recommendations and observations. Together, we developed and simulated various scenarios to psychologically "break" the barrier that was deeply embedded in Zhora's mind. I don’t want to elaborate too much on this, but some of the situations we modeled and worked through were quite unconventional.

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Zhora's self-esteem visibly increased. A little later, he decided on his own to take up boxing, which boosted his confidence.

In my work with people, I have long recognized a unique pattern. If a person does more than their competitor, lives for their idea, goes to bed with it, works harder, and disagrees with their current situation, sooner or later, the Universe will always give them a chance. Georgiy was no exception. During one of the training sessions, Denis Boyko sustained an injury and required surgery followed by a long rehabilitation. He needed six months to fully recover. For half a year, Georgiy Bushchan became the first-choice goalkeeper for Dynamo. This was our unique opportunity to turn everything upside down.

What Georgiy suffered from (his incorrect attitude towards competition) naturally fell away in this situation. What followed was what happens when you have the right psychological setup, even if artificially created. Due to the lack of competition and internal pressure, Georgiy went on an incredible streak of eight "clean sheet" matches. As expected, he received a call-up to the Ukrainian national team. In regular conversations with Georgiy, I methodically tried to convince him and explain that there was no miracle in his career; it was all a logical result, earned through hard work.

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The joy of being called up to the national team and joining the ranks of the best football players in the country quickly gave way to dissatisfaction because he was called up as a deep reserve. Zhora instantly fell into the same trap he had faced at Dynamo (Kyiv). Andriy Shevchenko (then the coach of the Ukrainian national team) unconditionally relied on other goalkeepers, particularly Andriy Lunin from Real Madrid and Andriy Pyatov, the steadfast leader of Shakhtar Donetsk. Yuriy Pankiv, who was considered one of the best penalty shooters in the Ukrainian championship that season, was having a successful season with FC Oleksandriya.

After returning from the national team, Georgiy, feeling psychologically down, told me that he didn’t want to go there anymore and preferred to focus on his performances for Dynamo (Kyiv). He asked me to consider extending his contract with the club on better terms.

I fully understood Georgiy's thoughts and state, but that was definitely not in my plans and certainly not in his.

What followed was what I call a defining moment in his career. During that European cup season, I tried to always be as close to him as possible and flew to all the European away matches. For some reason, I missed the match against the Swedish Malmo and watched it on television, which turned out to be for the best. What happened in the final minutes of that match and the scene I noticed gave me the full picture of what was occurring.

In the match, Georgiy conceded three goals in the last minutes, two of them in extra time. He was not himself. It felt like he was catching not a ball, but a hot frying pan. After one of the goals conceded, the television camera showed Zhora's face and quickly shifted focus to Denis Boyko, who was sitting on the bench. I immediately understood what had actually happened to him in that match. His former psychological issues returned to him right away. Even before the match, he knew and clearly understood that he could no longer afford to make mistakes, as his competitor was sitting on the bench, and the price of his own mistakes could be too high.

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I decided to wait for Georgiy's return at a café because it was crucial to discuss everything at that moment, without postponing the conversation. It was important for me to understand whether he had identified the cause of his failures in that match and whether he grasped what had happened to him that day. I had to wait until 2 a.m. as the team returned to Kyiv around that time. We texted, and I told Zhora that I was awake and wanted to see him. He agreed. Half an hour later, we were sitting in a café, looking through the window at the night street of the capital.

In our conversation, I carefully asked him leading questions about what had happened and the reasons behind it. However, what I heard in response did not satisfy me. Georgiy spoke of obstacles that were entirely unrelated to the matter at hand. He assured me of family problems, a difficult divorce, a bad atmosphere in the team, and generally how everything was bad and unfair in this world. At that moment, an idea came to me to take Zhora to a specific place.

When we arrived there, Georgiy logically expressed surprise, as we had come to a nighttime cemetery. I can only imagine his confusion at this unpleasant nighttime visit. I then took Georgiy to one grave, specifically to the grave of a girl who turned out to be his age. I fully understood that Georgiy, whether he wanted to or not, would look at this grave, at the birth date and the date of the girl’s death, and set his thought process on the necessary trajectory for this situation.

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After about 15–20 minutes, I broke the silence and asked Georgiy how he was feeling. I asked him to tell me more about the problems in his life.

— I’m fine... I’m fine... I’m fine... — Zhora kept repeating at that time.

— Yes, you’re actually fine, dear. You’re young, handsome, and a successful guy. You still have everything ahead of you, but this girl will never be able to solve her problems.

After this nighttime visit, for the next two months, Georgiy seemed to have been replaced; his results improved with each game. As we planned, we managed to significantly change Georgiy's salary, successfully signing a new contract.

When the next call-up to the national team came, Zhora reacted with reluctance again. He said he didn’t want to go because he had no intention of just handing out balls and being in constant reserve, especially in the shadow of the main goalkeepers of the national team. After another conversation, we made a mutual decision not to be disheartened and to go fight for what we wanted.

"Always do what you have to do, and let it be as it will be." These wise words are undeniable.

Throughout the week with the national team, Georgiy was in a bad mood because he remained in reserve, which, of course, never satisfies ambitious people. And then something amazing happened. At that time, a coronavirus pandemic was raging worldwide, so before departing for any match, all players had to undergo tests according to the protocol. That evening, Georgiy called me. He could barely speak, or rather, I didn’t understand what he wanted to tell me due to a sudden opportunity that came out of nowhere, and it seemed to me he was even slightly panicked:

— Can you imagine, all of us, I mean the goalkeepers, took the test yesterday. Three of the goalkeepers, besides me, tested positive.

— So what? — I asked, as I didn’t immediately grasp what he meant.

— For the next three matches, I will be the only goalkeeper for the national team and will play against France, Germany, and Spain, — explained Zhora, filled with emotion and adrenaline.

"What a miracle!" — I thought, but I didn’t say it out loud, as everything in my worldview was happening logically