Ukraine's youth national team midfielder Heorhii Sudakov shared his expectations for the match against France in the quarter-finals of Euro 2023 (U-21).
"I have already recovered and am 100% ready. I had two matches in the group stage, so to speak, I was resting, I played 90 minutes against Romania alone. We had a break of almost a week after the game with the Romanians, so we all recovered and are fully ready.
I think we can forget about qualification. We have a different team, and so do they. We have already done much more. This year, each of us has grown as a footballer and a person. Indeed, a year has passed since then, and we can't compare those matches anymore. This is the quarter-finals of the Euros, and we are here for a reason. We want to show what we are capable of. The main thing is to believe in it. As I said after the match against Spain, the main thing is to show our skills and our game.
Their whole team is very strong individually. Shakhtar and I played against Rennes, and Arnaud Calimuendo and Amin Guiri are playing for them - very powerful technical players. I also know Ryan Sherkey and Pierre Calleja. They are also very good players. Almost all of their players cost 20-30 million euros, are very talented and play in the top championships. But we also have a very strong team. I think that if we come out 100% ready, first of all mentally, we have every chance of getting past this team.
My participation in the team's build-up? This is our game structure, starting with Shakhtar, first of all. Under Igor Jovicevic, we started playing this way and constantly made rotations. Ruslan Petrovich also allows and tells us to rotate. For us, it is not something "amazing". We constantly practice and do it, we know how to play there. That's why, if not me, then Artem Bondarenko makes the rotation and starts the attacks," said Sudakov.
The quarter-final match of Euro 2023 (U-21) France - Ukraine will take place on Sunday, 2 July, at the Cluj Arena in Cluj-Napoca (starting at 22.00 Kyiv time).