The head coach of the youth national team of Ukraine Ruslan Rotan spoke at a press conference on the eve of the Euro 2023 U-21 match against Spain, which will take place on 27 June in Bucharest.
Ruslan Rotan. Photo by O. Vasylieva- Does the Ukrainian national team have any personnel problems before tomorrow's match?
- At the moment, the doctors are working with Mudryk. Sych and Taloverov have minor injuries after the matches, but I think they won't prevent them from playing against Spain.
- Given Spain's previous games in the tournament, how do you expect the match to start? Where do you want to start?
- Tomorrow's match will be a bit different. The two teams have decided on the quarter-finals. The Spaniards and we will make a small rotation. What should we expect? We know each other well. The Spaniards play structural and aggressive football, they control the ball perfectly in the third zone - we understand this very well. They have good performers in their squad. Even after the draw, I said that Spain was the favourite in our group, a strong team with strong players. I think tomorrow's match will be physically exhausting for us. We have to understand that the Spaniards will control the ball more. But we are preparing for this, we must not deviate from our structure, but must impose our game on the opponent through tougher actions in the centre of the field, control of the ball. Adaptation to the heat and the team's character will also play an important role.
- Tell us about the psychological preparation for the meeting with Spain, because our team will play from the underdog position.
- We must understand that the match with Spain is crucial for the distribution of places in the group. It is important for both teams. On the other hand, there is no psychological pressure to reach the quarter-finals. It's a great way to show your qualities, to be a professional for each player, to go out for a match not just because you have to play. With such teams, we have to dream. If we have matches like the one with Spain every time, it will raise the level of both the team as a whole and individual players. We have to be mentally and physically prepared. Tomorrow we will not be pressured by the result, we need to show our game against a very strong opponent. You should play not for the result, but for the fan.
- You said that both teams may have changes for tomorrow's match . The winner of our group will play the quarter-finals in Bucharest, and the runner-up will play in Cluj-Napoca. Can winning this match be a bonus in terms of further preparation?
- Yes, a victory in tomorrow's match is a bonus - there will be no need to make unnecessary travel. Perhaps, it is more profitable for both teams to play in Bucharest. But now we don't need to choose an opponent that we might get. In any case, we will have an opponent that we need to take as seriously as possible. There is no need to think about what would be better. After the match, we will take our place in the group, and then we need to be as physically and mentally focused as possible for the quarter-finals. Regardless of where this game takes place, the main thing for us will be to move on.
- Does the Spanish national team have any weaknesses that we can exploit?
- There are no perfect teams. There are performers, there are requirements of the Spanish head coach. Such teams, which have great players, also have weaknesses. We know them well, and I want us to exploit them tomorrow.
- The Ukrainian national team scored in both group stage matches. How are you going to maintain this trend?
- Scoring is the main task for any team. First of all, a footballer must think about how to score the ball to the opponent. We work on this every day, we have our own automaticity, just like the Spanish national team. We strive to improve every time. I really want our ideas to work with teams like Spain. It will be a good gift for me to see in matches with such opponents what we have been working on all these years from the very beginning.
