Leszek (Shek) Borkowski

I want to win every match I coach and I go into every match believing that as long as my players perform the way I prepare them, we will win every match.
Its immaterial if we play USA, Germany, Brazil or a pre-season friendly, I want my players to win and I believe that we can win.
But there is a massive gap between being good or even a very good player and being a winner.
Winning is a mental state, not a physical skill.
A winner is a player who knows how to and who competes every minute of every training session and every match.
She never accepts defeat and is always ready to do whatever is necessary to come out as a winner. Whether its a 1v1 training exercise or 1v1 duel against Brazil’s Marta, a winner looks to compete against, and beat any and every opponent.
She may know that she can’t win every time, but she always has the belief and always competes.
A winner is not interested in having the most glamorous role or in just scoring goals, she is content with a role that helps her team to win. She might not be the most talented but she is the most committed.
Winners are risk takers and are not content in just surviving in comfort zones.
Winning is not easy; it requires commitment and sacrifice.
As we are building a Zvezda team which will compete against every and any opponent, Stanislav Kharitonov and I are looking for players with determination to succeed at any price. We are looking for players who want to win every title in Russia and who want to win it all in Europe. We are looking for players who will outwork all opponents, who want to play against the best in the world…and defeat them all.
Defeating them not only on a scoreboard but in every individual duel and every tackle, defeating them with quality passing and quality play. There is no feeling like it.
With 5 weeks till pre-season Stanislav, Anton and I are scouring the globe for winners. You may not have heard of some or all of them but soon you will.