Oleksandr Petrakov called up 27 players to the national team of Ukraine for the autumn matches of the League of Nations, the first of which will be held on September 21 in Scotland.
The list was formed in several runs based on the results of force majeure - injuries mowed down, for example, Georgy Bushchan and Nikolay Shaparenko, who would definitely be the main ones at the gate and the middle line. Several more guys had illnesses, and now it is not clear whether they can help 100% of the possibilities.
So it is not surprising that Petrakov's application contains many new (or long-unheard) names. Fanday presents potential debutants of the Ukrainian national team in the third article of the cycle "Petrakov's Notebook": why did they deserve the interest of the national team, what can they give it and instead of whom can they play?
29 years old, Kolos, goalkeeper
Volynets was considered promising at Dynamo, Rudakov himself put him in the goal at the academy, but until almost 23 years old, Zhenya was stuck at Dynamo-2. He ended up in Kharkiv "Helios", but, fortunately for himself, since the summer of 2017, he began to play in the "Kolos" Kovalivka.
Yevgeny withstood quite serious competition (starting from the lower leagues, Kolos always had 3 more or less equal goalkeepers) and immediately became one of the best goalkeepers in the UPL.
Especially cool is work on reactions and penalties. In 75 matches for Kolos, he conceded 80 goals and completed 29 games at once without conceding goals. In the new season, Volynets conceded only once in four games. Helped out a lot. This challenge is very logical and quite timely, given the personnel situation.
Need a team? Yes! Bushchan was injured, Pyatov ended up with the national team, Trubin should be thinking about the youth team now.
23 years old, Dnepr-1, central defender/midfielder
He is probably tired of comparisons with Stepanenko or Sidorchuk, but where can he go if Sarapiy is also a pupil of Metalurh Zaporozhye?
At a young age, in times of hard times and reboots of his native club, he almost left Zaporizhia ahead of schedule - they took Dynamo to the youth squad, they were interested in Shakhtar and even Volyn (like FC Lutsk) wanted to see in their squad.
As a result, Edson became one of the leading players in the new MFC Metallurg, which quickly moved from amateurs to the first league. Sarapiy could play in any central position - from defense to "eight". He perfectly performed set pieces and was famous for his ability to close a free kick or corner himself.
Krasnikov called Eduard to Metalist and with this team he also quickly passed the second and first leagues. Now I would play for Kharkiv, but problems in the city forced me to abandon the leading legionnaires and let the sports director, head coach and leading players go to Dnipro-1.
There he started by sending off with AEK (Larnaca), for which he grabbed the critics, but then scored against Dynamo and showed the ability to play not only in the support zone, but in the center of defense.
The PFL has known about this for a long time, but it's nice that the young guy showed himself so quickly in the Premier League.
Need a team? At least in reserve - yes, and now.
25 years old, Zorya, central midfielder
For the current Zorya, this player is even more important than Kabaev, who was released to Dynamo - Rusin played almost painlessly on the left flank of the attack, and who should replace the leading central midfielder? Brazhko and Mikhailenko are still young, Alibekov has not made a breakthrough during the time spent in the Luhansk team.
Nazarina is van Leeuwen's style-forming player. He played in all six matches of the new season, having missed only five minutes during this time. He opened the scoring for Zorya's goals in the UPL, scoring against Vorskla in a match that aroused general sympathy for the Lugansk team, who had lost a number of leaders.
Egor is a player in the defensive zone. He feels great both in pass work and in the organization of selection. Has a good hit. He sees the field very well. If you imagine a triangle with Malinovsky and Zinchenko, just Nazarina can suit them in style (if they and their clubs were in better shape, it could also be Makarenko with Kharatin).
At the age of 25, Nazarina is still able to add. In the event that numerous rumors about the interest of the giants come true, this may be another step forward.
Need a team? Yes, and it is quite possible that he will be the heir to the center of the field in the national team for the next few years.
24 years old, Dnipro-1, winger/insider
This guy has long been known as a promising player - as a schoolboy, he got on the radar at Shakhtar, and the Lviv team saved him for Karpaty with some difficulty.
Then he was taken to Villarreal, however, like most Ukrainian talents, he did not show himself in Spain (but it was the Swede in Sevilla, Tkachuk - remember this one? - in Atlético, Vachiberadze in Betis and many others up to Lunin).
I had to start all over again, and it’s good that Gutsulyak got to Ryabokon, who reinstated him in Desna. An invitation arrived from Dnipro-1 from Jovichevich. Alexey played 19 matches for this team, scoring 7 effective actions (4 goals, 3 assists). I have improved a lot in recent years.
What else is Gutsulyak good for - if you imagine a 4-1-4-1 formation with a line under the central striker, Alexei can be used at any point - from the left midfielder to the right, and everywhere he will be quite effective.
Need a team? Deserved to be tried.
Artur Valerko