On Sunday, March 26, in the Euro 2024 qualifying round match the Ukraine national team lost to England 0:2 in London. Here is the post-match press conference of the acting head coach of the Ukrainian national team Ruslan Rotan.
Ruslan RotanWhat did the Ukrainian team lack to achieve a positive result?
- I think we were a little short at the end of the first half. When you concede a goal "in the locker room", you need to psychologically readjust. When you go to halftime with the score 0-2, conceding two goals at the end of the half, the task becomes difficult. Moreover, everyone understands who we played against today: England is a very strong team, you saw their skills, they are at a very high level.
But the guys deserve more. We have a very good team, but it needs time. It is capable of much more.
- The Ukrainian team has not played official matches since last September. With this in mind, how difficult it was to play today, and even with such an opponent as England?
- It is an appropriate question. In such circumstances, it is very hard to play the first game. Moreover, our team is going through a rejuvenation period. But the balance we have now, in the future will give a very good result and make a very good team. We need time. The first game against a strong opponent showed that this team has a future.
- How do you like the support of Ukrainian fans at today's match?
- It was very nice to see such an army of our fans. Thank you very much! And the British fans - also, and they supported us today. The atmosphere at Wembley was terrific. One can only dream of playing in such an atmosphere. I think today's match will encourage our team to reach greater heights.
- What was the idea behind Zinchenko's transfer to the right back position in the second half?
- When the opponents were "coming at us" on that flank, we were losing a lot of balls. Therefore, with this transfer of Zinchenko, we thought that we would have fewer losses and have more control of the game. Plus, I put some fresh players in the middle of the field to kick-start the game, turn the tide, be more active upfront. But, unfortunately, we could not be aggressive enough up front. At times we controlled the ball well, but maybe we lacked the patience in some episodes to wait for the right opportunity to pass forward.
- How successful do you think the Ukraine national team will be in this qualifying campaign, given the difficult conditions they are in now?
- Logistically it is really hard for us. It takes 24 hours to get to the place of the match or the place of the training camp. It's very difficult. But we have what we have, we have to be guided by reality. Unfortunately, there is a war, it must be understood. I would like to thank our warriors that thanks to them we have the opportunity to play. And the problem of logistics is in the background, we have to get used to it. The main thing is that, God willing, the war in Ukraine should be over as soon as possible.
- Tsygankov is in great shape now. Why did he come on as a sub today? Do you regret that decision of yours? The second question: was Dovbik's sub shift too late?
- When you finish the game with such a result, you can say a lot of things and justify yourself. Before the match we had a plan for the game. We were well aware that the first half would be very hard for us. We understood that the rival will actively apply pressure, overlap us, not giving us time to work with the ball. In the first half we had to handle the pressure, to try to control the ball.
So, about Tsygankov, who is really in good shape, we had the idea that he should come out in the second half and, so to speak, to get a result through his successful performance. But, unfortunately, our plan could not be implemented.
As for Dovbik`s appearance, maybe he could have been earlier, but Roman Yaremchuk worked very well both on attack and defense.
Oleksandr POPOV
