Yevhen Novak, a Dynamo Kyiv pupil, who currently plays for Kolos, but has previous experience of playing for Vardar in Northern Macedonia, shared his impressions of the Euro 2024 qualifying match between Northern Macedonia and Ukraine (2:3).
Eugene Novak- You played for a long time in Vardar, the best team in the championship of Northern Macedonia. I'm sure you know many of the players in the current Macedonian national team. What would you say about the level of these players?
- Obviously, I know many of the guys, because they have all started their careers at Macedonian clubs. I know at least seven of the current squad quite well. Plus, I know the team manager Blagoje Milevski. He used to work for the youth national team of Northern Macedonia.
I talked to a couple of guys on the phone before the meeting. Not about football, really, but about life. Now the Northern Macedonian national team consists of the players who represent the colours of good European clubs - Napoli, Udinese, Fenerbahce, Dinamo (Zagreb). Elif Elmas is one of the key players for Napoli who won the Italian championship. You saw his class when he scored the second goal for Trubin. All the players from the Balkans are individually strong guys. No one has an easy time with them.
- They are especially strong at home. Is it so?
- Yes. For me it is a bit surprising to see half-empty stands in yesterday's match. There was about 15 000 spectators at the game North Macedonia - Ukraine. Perhaps the rain that poured down for almost a whole day did not help the attendance. But the stadium can hold 35,000 spectators.
Back in the past, when Vardar won the right to play in the Europa League group stage for the first time, our home games were attended by almost 30-35 thousand spectators. But that was only five years ago. At handball matches, for example, about 7 thousand fans attend the games of Vardar, the hall is always packed.
- The first half for the Ukraine national team was frankly unsuccessful. If it wasn't for Trubin, the scoreline might have been 3-0 in favour of the home team. What do you attribute such a game of the Ukrainian team to?
- I initially knew that our team will have a hard time in Skopje. The hosts played with three central defenders. I think our guys haven`t understood the structure of the opponent`s game. And the penalty awarded in our net changed a lot. And when Elmas scored from distance, it got tough. But at half-time Sergei Stanislavovich (Rebrov) managed to get through to the players. Two substitutions were made, Ukraine turned the game around.
- Surely, at half-time no one really believed in a win for Ukraine?
- Probably. Personally, I wanted us to level the score at least. There was not much faith in victory. But the Ukraine national team got back in the game. Another thing I noticed was that the home keeper started to take his time very early on, not rushing the ball into the game. This is always a penalty.
- You don't often see our defenders - Zabarniy and Konoplya - scoring goals. Moreover, these are their first goals for the Ukraine national team...
- Ilya Zabarny scored after a standard. The games in the APL helped him. He may have missed a lot due to injury, but he managed to feel the level of the best league in Europe. And Yefim Konoplya is a great attacker. We can see it in his game at Shakhtar. Konoplya always plays high, and in this episode he completed a pass from Mudryk with an accurate shot.
- Who for you is the best player of our national team in Skopje?
- Viktor Tsygankov. Now I watch him play more without the ball, how he breaks into the areas. Staying at Girona did him good. Victor scored the decisive goal and made a pass to Zabarny. And the third goal - I call it a quick chess. The way Tsygankov reacted and ran into the free zone.
- What was the key goal scored by the Ukrainian national team players?
- For me, the first one was scored by Ilya Zabarny. We got one goal early on and there was enough time to change the score. Still, we faced the opponents who were not of the same level as Manchester City. Macedonians also took some time to react to the changes in the Ukrainian team`s game.
-Ahead,our national team have a nominally home game against Malta in Slovakia. In a couple of days the guys will be able to recover?
- Look, football in Europe has levelled up. Malta should not be underestimated. It is clear that we must outplay our opponents in many aspects, but we must score goals. And as early as possible. As for the recovery, I think Serhiy Rebrov will rotate the squad. We have quality performers in reserve. We wish them good luck.
-The England team are far behindall their opponents. So it turns out that the Ukraine national team will fight for the second place with Italy and Northern Macedonia?
- Most probably so. The English started strongly in the group. Another victory or two, and they will solve their problems of qualifying for the European Championship. The Italian team is far from being the favourites in Europe at the moment. They have twice failed to qualify for the World Cup finals. While we have a young team, hungry for success.
Personally, I like the way Sergey Rebrov works. Although he also needs time. Let's see how Andriy Shevchenko started at the national team. The first two years he was scolded by everyone, and then admired by the Ukraine national team. So it is now.
