On Tuesday, September 27, the Nations League match between the national teams of Ukraine and Scotland will take place. Today, on the eve of the meeting, the head coach of the national team Oleksandr Petrakov took part in the pre-match press conference.
Oleksandr Petrakov. Photo: uaf.ua— Oleksandr Vasyliovych, you have been working in the national team of Ukraine for about a year. Almost every match is a final for you. Does it put pressure on you psychologically?
— I have already adapted, but it was very difficult. This is the specifics of the national team, there is responsibility in every game. The responsibility is increasing for everyone, the level of national team matches is very high. One match is worth ten matches of the national championship. When the national team matches are over and I return home, I feel tired. I will recover in a few days.
— In the match against Scotland, you had one lineup, for Armenia, a completely different one. Will choosing the lineup for tomorrow's game be the most difficult of your career?
— No, it won't. In no way do I want to insult the Armenian national team, but there is a difference between their team and Scotland. Well done guys for doing what was asked of them. There will be no difficult choices, but there will be permutations.
— Do you think that your team will be able to play better than a few days ago in Glasgow?
— I don't look at who will play in Scotland. I want to say that we played on June 1, won 3:1 in the play-off match to qualify for the World Cup. Now the Scots have won. So it's a 1-1 draw. I would also like to say a big thank you to the Scottish Football Association and the head coach of the national team who agreed back in March to postpone our match due to the war. They could have refused, but they didn't. I thank you very much.
— After the last match with Scotland, you said that the absence of such experienced players as Zinchenko affected the result. How much will there be a shortage of such footballers tomorrow?
— I don't want to offend anyone, but we are not a country like France or Spain, which can assemble three or four equal teams. We have two or three players out, and it's difficult for us. Zinchenko is a good person, a great player. We are always short of those. Zabarny, Mykolenko did not play for us. Vitaly wanted to go out and play, but I will never make a career on the health of players. We saved him, he recovered and was already on the field. It is very difficult for us when one of the main players does not play. As I said before, we don't have a main line-up as such, but I want one. We don't have enough Bushchan, Zinchenko, Shaparenko.
— Will the match against Scotland be your last as head coach of the national team, as your contract expires at the end of the year?
— There are no negotiations. Tomorrow is the game, after it you will know everything. This is a question for the president of the UAF.
— Are there any injured in the team?
— Everyone is healthy, we have 23 football players in the team.
— How important is it for you to break into the top division of the League of Nations?
— All of us, the guys and the coaching staff, want to go up to the A League.
— The match with Scotland in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers was perceived as something incredibly important. How do you feel the emotions of the people and the fans before tomorrow's game?
- The status of the game on June 1 was different - the semifinals of the World Cup qualifying playoffs. The League of Nations is something else, including in people's minds. But don't think that we went out to play on September 21 with some bad mood. The war is going on, people came from different clubs, with different practices, transferred. It all took its toll.
It's no secret that all teams have sensors that monitor the functional state of players. Before the Glasgow game we were in a very bad situation. And now all the guys have leveled up, they are working well, with dedication, mood. We are ready for the game and the status of this game is important. We really want to rehab tomorrow.
— How will the fact that the match will take place on a neutral field affect tomorrow's game?
— We play in such realities, we play all matches away from home. I really want to live until that time to play at home.
— Were you surprised by the way Scotland plays on the standards?
— We analyze all matches, how who plays on the standards. This is the "horse" of all British teams, they play well with the head. The default position is Scotland's main trump card. We know this, we are analyzing it, we will do everything possible so that we are not beaten by the standard.
