Ukraine's youth national team midfielder Heorhii Sudakov, who was named UEFA's best player of the Euro 2023 (U-21) quarter-final match against France (3-1), summed up the results of the game. It will be recalled that Sudakov scored two of the three goals against the French.
Georgy Sudakov. Photo by O. Vasylieva- How do you manage to play with Mikhail Mudryk in general? This is his first match at the tournament, but you both have such a strong chemistry. How much did it help you and the team?
- After today's game, I can't single out anyone - Mudryk or Bondarenko... The whole team fought and was one. If we talk about my tandem with Mykhailo, then, of course, we feel each other. I used to give him similar passes, and he scored, we had slightly different roles. But I know what he is capable of, how he can pass, so my task was to run and open up. And that's exactly what happened.
We were taking apart the French, they play very high, so we had to play behind them. So I ran into the area, and Mudryk passed the ball. The pass was similar to the one he gave in the national team's match against North Macedonia to Tsygankov. He can do it, we all know it perfectly well. So there was no special chemistry here - just a game moment.
- How has the French national team changed compared to your Euro 2023 (U-21) qualifiers? Or perhaps the Ukrainian national team has changed first and foremost?
- I have already said that we have changed first of all. We cannot compare that year and this year. We have all grown up, gained experience, almost everyone in our squad has played in European competitions. As for me, I have already played several matches for the national team. After such games, you have experience, you play such matches in a completely different way. Therefore, we cannot compare.
And Ruslan Petrovych was right to say that this is a completely different team. France's team hasn't changed much, if you look at the names, just like ours. But we have changed individually, in terms of skill. We have different experience, everyone's level of play has increased several times. We need to build on our game, no matter who the opponent is. Today we showed that if we play as a team, we can play football with the ball.
Of course, all the players in France are strong individually, and it is difficult to defend against them. There were moments when we had to be patient. But I am sure that all Ukrainians who watched the match are proud of us, because we know how to play football, not just fight back.
