Our national team will play the final match of the Nations League group stage against Scotland. Only victory guarantees Petrakov's wards the first place in their quartet and a ticket to Division A. The prospects of the Ukrainian national team were discussed in this meeting with Yevhen Levchenko, the former midfielder of the Blue and Yellows.
Yevgeny Levchenko— Evgeny, will our football players have the desire, motivation and character to build a dam today?
- I am absolutely sure that this will be a completely different game than the one in Glasgow, which became very painful. Everyone, to put it mildly, was stunned by such a defeat.
To be honest, it was not very pleasant to watch the game of Oleksandr Petrakov's wards. You can turn a blind eye to some things, but that is by no means an excuse.
I have no doubt that today in Krakow we will see the Ukrainian national team that we are used to seeing most often. The last match against the Armenian team was a reaction to the defeat in Scotland.
— It is surprising that in June, without the game practice of many football players, we won against the Scots with almost no options, and already in September we conceded in all respects...
— The national team of Ukraine lacked key performers — Bushchan, Zabarny, Mykolenko, Zinchenko, Shaparenko. With all due respect to the other guys, when the leaders fall, it's telling. As it seemed to me, there was no cohesion.
When the team is not doing well, there are leaders who can take the initiative. In the match with Scotland, there were no such players, although the same Yarmolenko, Malinovskyi were on the field... It didn't work, there was some kind of failure.
And, of course, the lack of playing practice at the highest level among many football players was indicated. And the mistakes in the missed balls after the standards were childish.
— Despite the confident victory over Armenia, will the defeat by Scotland not put pressure on the players of the Ukrainian national team before the return match with the British?
- Hard to tell. Probably, the Scots will "chop" without feeling sorry for themselves. They understand that if they were able to win against the Ukrainians, why not beat them again.
Before this game, I see the British as favorites to some extent. Although, in my opinion, the national team of Ukraine is higher in class, no matter how paradoxical it may sound after the match in Glasgow.
— Try to predict the outcome of this battle?
— I am not a fan of predictions, but I have a feeling that the Ukrainian national team will win. Every football player should understand how painful it is to lose with a crushing score.
We know that our national team has potential, Tymchyk, Ignatenko, Zubkov showed themselves well... The main thing is to eliminate mistakes at the standards at the goal, and there will definitely be chances ahead. Our national team knows how to score thanks to combined football.
Yaroslav Pyatnytskyi
