On Sunday, March 26, the Euro 2024 qualifying match between England and Ukraine will take place in London. The day before the match, at the legendary Wembley Stadium, where the game will take place, acting head coach of the Ukrainian national team Ruslan Rotan held a regular pre-match press conference.
Ruslan RotanWhat information did the friendly with Brentford give you? Why was it so closed?
- If everyone had been able to attend the match, the stadium would have been full. There was a problem with the organization not only for our association, but also for Brentford, who organized the match. The game was important in terms of the fact that we hadn't gathered for a long time, we don't train together much. Such matches allow us to better feel the bonds, to establish interaction between the links.
- Have you analyzed the previous match with England - at Euro 2020? Have you decided on the lineup for tomorrow's game?
- There is no point in talking about the lineup now. We have a lineup in mind, everyone will see it tomorrow. As for the previous meeting at the Euro, my colleagues and I reviewed it many times. We will draw conclusions, especially about the game during the standards. We understand what the atmosphere will be like at Wembley. We know England well, which is among the world's top 5, as I said. We dream of playing in such matches and enjoy them. Tomorrow, in this beautiful country, at a beautiful stadium with a great team, we are ready to show a great game. We will fight for the result that will suit us.
- You are currently the acting head coach of the national team of Ukraine, as well as the manager of the youth team and Oleksandriya. How do you manage to combine these jobs? Does yesterday's victory of the U-21 team add to the positive?
- At the moment, the youth team gives us confidence, which is a very good sign. As for my position, there is a match tomorrow, I am acting head coach of the national team, so I am focused on this game. The day after tomorrow morning I'm going to Italy for a match of the youth national team. Now all of us, like the whole country, have a situation that needs to be resolved. I could not refuse when I was invited to this position for the match with England - it would have been unpatriotic of me. We are concentrating on tomorrow's match.
