Football news

According to TaToTake, Volodymyr Yezerskyi, assistant to Karpaty head coach Myron Markevych, has joined the Ukrainian national team staff.

Yezersky will assist Serhiy Rebrov in the national team during the preparation and final part of Euro 2024 and will be responsible for the team's standards and defense.

At the same time, the 47-year-old specialist will also continue to work for the Lviv club.

It should be added that according to official information from the UAF, the national team staff currently consists of Vicente Gomez Fernandez, Alberto Bosch Brinkes, Hlib Platov, Rustam Khudzhamov and Javier Luruenya Lobo.

Ukraine's midfielder Taras Stepanenko commented on the friendly match against Germany (0:0).

- It was a difficult match, because we played with a very strong team. They controlled the ball and created chances. We played on the counterattack, and we also had a couple of good chances. I think we withstood, played well in defense. A draw against such a team is a good result. It was the head coach's birthday, and we are glad that we gave him a result, not a tie.

Germany is now a more organized, disciplined team than a year ago. When we played them back then, they had open free areas where you could run in. Now it's very difficult to counterattack against them because they block the zones and play carefully. So we had few counterattacks, although they were sharp. We can definitely say that Germany has become stronger than a year ago.

It was especially difficult for us in the first 20 minutes of both the first and second halves. They were playing at home, in front of their fans, so they tried to put pressure. The stands were pushing them, and they really wanted to score a quick goal. It's good that we survived. All the guys defended well, helped each other, closed the zones. It's a good result for us," said Taras.

The main star of the Saudi Arabian league and Al Nasr, Cristiano Ronaldo, is trying to influence his club's transfer policy.

According to Daily Sports, the Portuguese is calling on Al Nasr's management to sign former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea, who has been a free agent since the summer of 2023.

However, last summer, de Gea himself rejected all offers from Saudi Arabia, as his family does not want to live in the country.

"Manchester City has filed a lawsuit against the Premier League.

According to the Bombardier telegram channel, citing The Times, Manchester City has decided to file a lawsuit against the Premier League because of restrictions on the rules of commercial and sponsorship agreements owned by or related to the owners of the same club.

Currently, these rules require an independent assessment of transactions for fair market value, which the Citizens consider illegal and incompatible with UK competition law.

These sponsorship deals are linked to 115 accusations of the English champions of violating financial fair play rules since 2009, which could see City relegated to the lower leagues in England. That is why it is very important for the Citizens to win this case in the Premier League.

At the same time, they have already prepared a 165-page document claiming that they are victims of "discrimination." It also describes the rules that were allegedly approved by rivals to suppress their success on the field.

In other words, City opposes the controls without which any deal can be valued at a notional £300 million.

Ukraine's national team goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin shared his impressions of the friendly match with Germany.

"We had a good game, but not a perfect one. We will need to analyze both team and individual actions and draw conclusions. Germany is one of the favorites for Euro 2024, so it was a very good match for preparation.

I can't single out any one player of the German national team, because everyone there is top-level, playing in the best clubs in Europe. The most difficult thing for me was the shot that hit the post - at a very uncomfortable height, and from close range. But, as they say, the post is the goalkeeper's friend.

After the match, I told Neuer that he played very well, because we also had some good chances, to which he reacted perfectly. We exchanged more shirts. He was not my idol, but he is a world-class goalkeeper.

I would like to thank our fans who were here and support us even on the road. It's very inspiring, because without the fans, the game is not the same. It's emotions, it's pressure on us. Our fans are the best," Trubin said.

Defender of Zhytomyr "Polesya" Vasyl Kravets can continue his career in "Metalist 1925".

According to journalist Igor Burbas, Metalist 1925 wants to strengthen the defense line and is interested in inviting Kravets. The parties have almost agreed on the transfer of the player.

Interestingly, the player moved to "Polesie" in the spring of this year.

Recall, as a result of the last season of the Ukrainian championship Metalist 1925 went to the first league.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin commented on the situation with his illness, which prevented him from playing in the Champions League final.

"Before the Champions League final, I was disappointed because of my illness, because I had come so far. Of course, I wanted to play in the final - it's the most important game. I was tested for viruses and told that I could not work with the team because it was contagious. I was suspended and worked at home. Just before the final, they tested me again, and I was negative," Lunin was quoted as saying by the Vzbirna telegram channel.

Former player of the national team of Ukraine Vasyl Kobin said what he plans to do after leaving the post of sports director of first-league Kharkiv Metalist:

"Now I concentrate on working as a soccer expert on one of the domestic TV channels. So I stay in the maelstrom of soccer events. However, I am open for a dialog with potential employers from soccer clubs and ready to return to coaching", - said Kobin.

Recall that before working with Metalist, Kobin led Transcarpathian "Minai".

The Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine has issued an order on the participation of the Ukrainian national team delegation in Euro 2024.

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On June 3, the Ukrainian national team played a friendly match against Germany in Nuremberg (0:0). Defender Oleksandr Svatok shared his thoughts on the game.

"My impressions are positive, because we played, among other things, away from home against the German national team. This is a very powerful team with many top-level players. We defended quite well and responded with counterattacks. There were moments when we controlled the ball for several minutes. This game will definitely benefit us.

Before the match, the coaching staff told us that the main thing was to go out on the field and show our best. To fulfill what we had been practicing for three or four days. And the result was not in the first place. Although every time you play for the national team, you want to win, no matter if it's an official match or not. The guys gave it their all, well done!

Andriy Yarmolenko is already teasing me, joking that I play for the national team only against top teams when I need to suffer. Like, I'm making a career, I don't play with weak teams. In today's match, we could feel the atmosphere of the upcoming Euro 2024. In Ukraine, we sometimes play one match for five hours without spectators, so it was important to see a full stadium," Svatok said.

Dynamo Kyiv president Ihor Surkis has confirmed the information that Dnipro-1 midfielder Oleksandr Pikhalenok may join Dynamo.

"At the moment, I have no official offer for any of our leaders, whether Shaparenko or Buyalsky. But Dynamo will not stand on the porch with an outstretched hand. We will only consider worthy options that may appear, for example, after the Euros. At the same time, we are capable enough to buy a player who interests our coaching staff, like Pikhalonok," Surkis said in a commentary to the TaToTake telegram channel.

Shakhtar defender Yaroslav Rakytskyi will leave the Donetsk club. This is reported by TaToTake.

It is reported that Rakitsky will leave Shakhtar as a free agent, as the club does not plan to extend the current agreement with him, which expires on June 30.

Last season, the defender played in 18 matches for Shakhtar in all competitions.