Former striker of the Poltava "Vorskla" Sergei Chuichenko in an interview "TEAM1" shared his impressions of the confrontation between his former team and the Swedish AIK (3:2, 0:2) in the 2nd qualifying round of the Conference League.
Sergei Chuichenko“Unfortunately, yesterday, Viktor Skrypnyk’s wards did not take advantage of the opportunities to check in that they created at the gates of the hosts. But AIK footballers, on the contrary, were more careful about scoring chances and deserved to tip the scales in their favor. Moreover, this time Fortune smiled at the Scandinavians. Recall that the first ball flew into the Poltava goal net after an unfortunate rebound, and in the second case it is not at all clear whether it completely crossed the goal line.
- In your opinion, in what components, compared to the first match, AIK players have added?
- First of all, in aggressiveness in attack. The hosts moved well, skillfully put pressure, increased the pace, and the guests did not always have time to cover the vulnerable spots. In addition, there were gaps between the links. But, I repeat, everything could have turned out differently if, in particular, Stepanyuk had realized his potential.
- The fact that a week ago the rivals had to sort things out on artificial turf, and yesterday on natural turf, could it negatively affect the actions of the Poltava team?
- I don’t think so, because the artificial turf at the stadium in Stockholm was of the latest generation, and it takes several minutes to adapt to real grass.
- Analyzing the course of events in yesterday's confrontation, I drew attention to the fact that the hosts created a lot of scoring chances compared to the first match...
- In my opinion, the absence of stopper Chesnakov and supporter Sklyar was felt in the ranks of Poltava. It's good that Riznyk caught the courage, proving that he deserves to be the goalkeeper of the national team of Ukraine.
- Unfortunately, Vorskla has been eliminated from the Conference League for the second time in a row after the first round...
- You know, unlike the failure in the previous tournament in matches with the Finnish club KuPS, this time the Poltava team does not deserve criticism. However, due to Russian aggression, they were forced to play two matches in Sweden. Several qualified legionnaires left the team at once, and it was deprived of official fights for more than eight months...
Although, of course, it’s a shame, because AIK didn’t give the impression of an impenetrable opponent, but, as they say, we have what we have... I hope that despite the relegation, the fights with AIK were useful for Poltava residents, helped to get rich, especially for young players, valuable experience that will definitely come in handy in the near future in matches on the all-Ukrainian arena.
Vasily MIKHAILOV
