Ruslan Rotan: "My task is to help the national team, and I am ready to make every effort to do so"

After the UAF Executive Committee approved Ruslan Rotan as acting head coach of the national team of Ukraine, the coach answered several questions from the UAF press service.

- Ruslan Petrovych, the national team of Ukraine is definitely a part of you, because you were its captain and are one of the centurions in the national team's history. What does this symbolic moment of transition from the status of the national team captain to the position of its manager mean to you?

- In fact, it is a great honour and pride for me to be entrusted with the national team. First of all, I want to say: for the fact that I am now acting for the game with England, first of all, I need to thank our soldiers. It is hard for them. We should not be afraid of the responsibility for this match, because it is much harder for our soldiers on the front line than for us to prepare for and play the game. However, we understand that we will also be defending the honour of the country, so we have to be very responsible.

- Do you have a feeling that you are returning to your family, which has always been the Ukrainian national team?

- Yes, indeed. I have always said, and many people will confirm these words, that from the very beginning of my career as a player in the national team, I have always been very happy to join its ranks. So now it is an honour for me. I understand that in the upcoming match I have to defend the honour of the whole of Ukraine.

- How do you perceive the new challenge in your coaching career? After all, among other things, the first official game will take place immediately at the historic stadium and against the ancestors of football...

- I think it should be taken as a challenge. England is the same team that you get three points for beating. There are no invincible teams in the world, and we all, together with the players and coaches, must understand that it is also possible to play against this opponent and achieve results. We will count on quality football. The game will show everything.

- What do you think of the current state of the England national team?

- As of now, it is one of the best teams in the world, and the World Cup has shown that it is developing in the right way. It's a pretty strong team that is progressing, and in terms of the quality of the game, it's probably in the top 5.

- When do you plan to decide on the players for the match against England?

- I think that somewhere around 5-6 March, we will already know all the players who will be called up for the training camp and included in the reserve list. We will talk to the future head coach and, I think, we will come to a conclusion by these numbers.

- How will you communicate with Serhii Rebrov?

- Actually, it all started with our conversation with UAF President Andriy Pavelko, and then with Serhiy Rebrov and team captain Andriy Yarmolenko (smiles). That's how we agreed on my participation. So I'll be in touch with Serhii Rebrov before the announcement of the list of those called up - we'll definitely go through the names - and during the training camp and before the match against England. My task is to help the national team, and I am ready to make every effort to do so. That is why I accepted the offer to become acting head coach.

- Who will be part of your coaching staff?

- Assistant Serhii Kravchenko, physical training coaches Yevhen Baryshnikov and Ivan Bashtovyi, goalkeeping coach Vitalii Reva, analytics coaches Yevhen Gres and Volodymyr Lazarenko.

- At the same time, you remain the head coach of the Ukrainian youth national team. Who will manage its activities in your absence, and will you be monitoring the team remotely in March?

- Yes, the youth team is also under our control now. We have been working and preparing for the training camp together with Oleksandr Melashchenko, Vasyl Kardash, and Oleksiy Chistyakov. They will now lead this team. They will be joined by goalkeeping coach Taras Lutsenko.

The other day we will hold a Zoom conference with everyone, go over the players who will be called up for the youth team training camp. We are making adjustments, we already have an idea of who will be called up for the next matches of this team. But we want to wait a little longer, because there is time, there may be injuries. I think that in early March we will be ready to answer this question with an application.