Ruslan Rotan is almost the main person in Ukrainian football at the moment. The coach works in three positions at the same time - the main one in the youth team and "Alexandria", as well as acting in the national team of Ukraine.
Ruslan Rotan. Photo: uaf.uaAnd now it's time to announce the composition of the main team of the country, which will play against the England team at the end of the month in the selection for the European Championship.
Rotan was able to surprise, several surnames in the composition are not at all unexpected, but the probability of seeing them here was still small. In addition, there are several names that, on the contrary, were expected in the list, but we never saw them there. ISPORT will analyze the composition of the national team, which was called by Rotan.
Goalkeepers
This position cannot be called problematic at the moment, because the competition in the gates of the national team is very high. Last year, Giorgii Bushchan was the main player, but now he is injured and did not receive a call-up. But there is Anatoly Trubin, who, most likely, will play in goal, because he is showing a phenomenal game at the start of 2023.
Behind him will be two players who have not recently appeared on the field in official matches - Andriy Lunin and Dmytro Riznyk. All three goalkeepers are quite young, but there is no doubt about their qualifications.
Who was not called: in the reserve team is Andriy Pyatov, the long-time captain of the national team, who nevertheless became the third goalkeeper in Shakhtar. Rotanya's subordinate in Alexandria, Mykyta Shevchenko, is also present. The goalkeeper of "Mistian" is one of the many goalkeepers in Ukraine who can be described as "a quality player, but he does not reach the base of the national team." Recently, this place was occupied by Pankiv, Volynets, Boyko and others. After all, there are no questions for Rotan here
Protection
Right flank: Oleksandr Karavaev (Dynamo) and Yukhim Konoplia (Shakhtar). In this case, there are no questions. In this position, these are the two best players today, and they should play in the Ukrainian national team.
Left flank: Vitaly Mykolenko (Everton) and Eduard Sobol (Strasbourg). Read what was written in the paragraph above - the same can be said here. Two legionnaires who regularly receive practice. Vitaly recently got sick, but he should make a full recovery before the match.
Defense Center: Mykola Matvienko (Shakhtar), Ilya Zabarny (Bournemouth), Eduard Sarapii and Oleksandr Svatok (Dnipro-1). But this is where the interesting begins. Matvienko and Zabarny are, of course, the best pair of central defenders in the country. But the fact is that Zabarny hasn't played since the fall, and is now completely injured, and Matvienko missed the last match. Mykola seems to have a cold, nothing serious, but still.
And behind these guys, Rotan leaves only the players of the UPL leader, Dnipro-1. Sarapiy and Svatok are good players, the former is still quite young and may not have fully revealed his potential. Both were already called up to the national team, but did not make their debut in it, and were then 5-6-7 selections for the position.
Who was not called: here are several options that we unexpectedly did not see in the application. First of all, it is Valery Bondar, Matviyenko's main partner in Shakhtar, who was "read" as a replacement for Zabarny. Secondly, this is Denis Popov. Yes, maybe the defender, like all of Dynamo, is far from in the best shape, but he has a little more experience at the highest level than Dnipro.
Well, another option is Sergey Kryvtsov. Yes, the defender left Ukraine and flew to another continent, but he is not yet ready to finish in the national team and it would be good to have such an experienced player behind him.
As for the flanks, Rotan left Tymchyk and Mykhailichenko in reserve, and also encouraged another Alexandrian - Denys Miroshnichenko
Half protection
Support zone: Taras Stepanenko (Shakhtar) and Serhiy Sydorchuk (Dynamo). Everything is traditional here - two veterans, captains of the giants of Ukrainian football, they are in place.
Central midfielders: Georgy Sudakov ("Shakhtar"), Artem Bondarenko ("Shakhtar"), Vitaly Buyalskyi ("Dynamo" Kyiv), Oleksandr Pikhalyonok ("Dnipro-1"), Ruslan Malinovskyi ("Marseille, France"), Oleksandr Zinchenko (" Arsenal", England).
Rotan will have three pairs of attacking central midfielders at his disposal. Most likely, the Zinchenko-Malinovsky pair will traditionally be the main pair. But who will be the next choice is difficult here. Vitaliy Buyalskyi will make another attempt to gain a foothold in the national team. The "Dynamo" player was initially ignored by Shevchenko, who tried him several times, and then refused. Then there was Petrakov and the same situation - challenge and further "oblivion". Well, a new attempt for the leader of Kyiv.
Bonadrenko and Sudakov are the new face of Shakhtar, players who lead the game of the miners, but do they have enough experience to play at this level? Maybe Rotan will choose Pikhalyonka, who has already played several matches for the national team and is showing cool football this season?
Who was not called up: in 2-3 years, maybe Danylo Ignatenko and Yehor Nazarina will be the mainstays of the national team, but now there is a place for them only in the reserve list. The biggest name among the undrafted centre-halves is of course Viktor Kovalenko, but the Spezia player has been injured and is definitely not in the best shape right now. Even Roman Bezus did not get into the reserve, just as there was no place for Volodymyr Shepelev either.
Attack
Left wingers: Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea, England), Yevhen Konoplyanka (Krakowia Krakow, Poland), Oleksandr Zubkov (Shakhtar). The main news of the entire list is the challenge of Evgeny Konoplyanka. The legendary winger last played for the national team in September 2020, and was called up to it in March 2021. Does he deserve a challenge right now? Quite doubtful. Although, in 2023 he plays regularly and maybe his experience will help in the end of the match? And suddenly he will repeat his main moment in his life and score again at Wembley?
Of course, Mykhailo Mudryk should be the main player in this position, there is also Oleksandr Zubkov, who is in good form and scored twice in the last match.
Right wingers: Andriy Yarmolenko (Al-Ain, UAE), Viktor Tsygankov (Girona, Spain). Here, everything is the old way, only with the difference that Tsygankov has already deserved to become the main player in the national team. He has entered La Liga perfectly and is probably a better player than Yarmolenko right now. But how will the coaching staff decide?
Central strikers: Roman Yaremchuk (Bruges, Belgium), Artem Dovbyk (Dnipro-1 Dnipro). Even six months ago, such a choice would have been accepted as appropriate. Although even now these guys are perhaps the strongest Ukrainian forwards, the form of Roman Yaremchuk, who cannot "find himself" after returning to Belgium, is frightening. And Dovbyk was just injured, there is a risk that the English will remain with one striker.
Who was not called: The choice among wingers is not very rich. Kryskiv (Shakhtar) and Hutsulyak (Dnipro-1) remained in the reserve. Among the forwards in the same reserve is Danilo Sikan (Shakhtar), who was criticized by fans after a very unsuccessful match against Rennes. But the legendary Artem Besedin did not receive the challenge. Some even expected to see Yevgeny Seleznyov in the national team, against the background of rumors about Konoplyanka (of course, these were jokes). Perhaps, at least Vladyslav Vanat from Dynamo Kyiv was expected in the reserve, but they decided to do without him.
Representation by clubs
Legionnaires - 11 (including 13 in reserve)
Shakhtar - 8 (14)
"Dnipro-1" - 4 (5)
"Dynamo" Kyiv - 3 (5)
Alexandria - 0 (2)
It is very unexpected that there are only three footballers from Dynamo in the national team and there is another Ukrainian club with a larger representation, besides Shakhtar. But there are at least two reasons for this: the first is injuries (Bushchan, Shaparenko), and the second is transfers (Zabarny, Tsygankov). In total, the main application included players from only three UPL clubs, but this time there were more than a dozen legionnaires.
