An authoritative Ukrainian specialist, former football player of the Ukrainian national team Yuriy Sak told what he expects from the match of the 5th round of the Armenia-Ukraine League of Nations, which will be held today in Yerevan.
Yuri Sak- Yuriy Nikolayevich, what is the reason that the Ukrainian team was completely defeated in Scotland (0:3)?
- As the match itself showed, the hosts were very motivated. But in the first half, thanks to our team, the Scots did not succeed with the combination game. But after the break, with their pressure, they began to make us make mistakes, and, worst of all, in their own half of the field.
Wards of Alexander Petrakov were not ready for the high pressure of the opponent. Also, the "blue-yellow" sank functionally, there was an unusually large amount of marriage.
In general, we could not qualitatively go from defense to attack. And, of course, the team played very poorly in its penalty area during set pieces and flank passes. The Ukrainian team lost the whole fight.
- A miscalculation in preparation for the game or overestimated your capabilities?
- In my opinion, the Ukrainian football players kept in mind the result of the meeting in June, when we confidently beat Scotland 3:1 in the playoffs of the qualification for the World Cup. But over time, everything changes. I think our team was psychologically unprepared for this game.
- Can such a defeat affect the fighting mood of Petrakov's wards before the away game with Armenia?
- I think that this loss hit our team hard. It is very difficult to change anything in the team's game after two days on the third.
However, if psychologically it is possible to correctly analyze the mistakes, everything can work out. Nevertheless, the class of performers of the Ukrainian team is higher than that of the Armenians. In addition, if the team is faced with the task of moving up to League A, it is not at all desirable to lose points.
As long as everything still depends on us, this chance should not be missed. But at the same time, it should be understood that it will be a very difficult game in Yerevan.
The Armenians do not have such power as the British, however, the players of this team are familiar with the technique. This must also be taken into account.
- What will be your prediction for the match Armenia - Ukraine?
- I repeat that the match for the Blue-Yellows will be very difficult. However, I believe in a positive result for the Ukrainian team - 1:2.
