Famous Ukrainian coach Serhiy Kovalets shared his opinion on the upcoming Euro 2023 semi-final, in which the Ukrainian youth team will face an old friend - the Spanish national team.
- Sergiy Ivanovich, how do you like the game with France, what are your impressions?
- I think, like the rest of the country, my impressions are very positive. Not only from the result, but also from the atmosphere itself. It is clear that we have a team, and the French have a set of players. The opponent acted strongly individually, but there was no team.
In my opinion, the French underestimated our team somewhere, their overconfidence played a cruel joke on them. When they had to play back, they were unable to rebuild and broke down psychologically. While Ukraine played reliably and solidly and naturally won.
As a reward, we have the first ever access to the Olympic Games. During the war with Russia, this is very important, because in this way we demonstrate to the whole world that Ukraine is alive, developing and winning.
I repeat, it is very important that thanks to our heroic armed forces, we held the Ukrainian championship. The Second League, the First League, the UPL - everyone makes a contribution. Nine players in the starting line-up of the youth team represented the Premier League at once, and they were as good as their colleagues from European leagues.
- The French scored first, but it seemed that this did not disrupt the Ukrainians at all. Do you agree?
- At first, not everything worked out, but Rotan's men showed character. After a missed goal, Mudryk demonstrated his individual skill in time to earn a penalty. Moreover, when Mikhail was just starting his run and beat the first player of the French national team, he did not even try to chase him, he stayed put. This is a telling moment - we were more motivated than our opponent.
Importantly, we were not afraid to play our football. During the second goal, Mudryk made a great pass. From deep in the field, very timely for Sudakov, who, in turn, opened perfectly. We saw a similar combination a little earlier in the national team, when Tsygankov scored. I believe that this moment was a turning point. The French were confused, although they had their moments, but it felt like our team would not miss theirs.
- For the first time at the Euros, the Ukrainian national team played without a centre-forward with a false nine, does this indicate a set of different tactics?
- Of course. And in the second half, the national team showed great positional defence, switching to a five-defender game. Brazhko went lower and played as the third central defender. But when our team attacked, Brazhko again moved up and played in his usual position.
But, as you know, it is not the scheme that plays, it is the players. So once again I want to note the great atmosphere, the so-called chemistry between the players and the coaching staff. We can see interesting coaching ideas, and the players are motivated to implement them on the pitch.
- All three goals were scored by Shakhtar's representatives. "Have the Miners become a base club for the youth national team, like Dynamo did for the national team in the past?
- I would like to note the work of Igor Jovicevic, who was recently released from Shakhtar. But we see that all the players are on the move, motivated and functionally ready. This applies not only to the youngsters, but also to such an experienced fighter as Taras Stepanenko.
Jovićević trusted the youngsters who had gone through the Champions League school. Trubin, Bondarenko, Kryskiv, Sudakov, Sikan - the whole central axis of the youth team. And then there are Mudryk and Kashchuk, who also went through Shakhtar's school. They feel each other and really enjoy the game. I would like to mention Trubin separately - he is calm, confident, a safety net. He is a very important player at the Euros.
- On Wednesday we have a semi-final with Spain, whom we met in the group stage. But then both teams had already solved the problem of reaching the playoffs and gave their leaders a break. How different will the upcoming game be?
- It's important not to relax, not to think that the main task - getting to the Olympics - has been completed, not to lose the motivation that was at its best before. I am confident that the coaching staff will find the right words, and the guys themselves understand that there are still two steps left to write their name in history as a winner.
Spain is a strong team, one of the main favourites. I watched their quarter-final with Switzerland, in which the Spaniards were predicted to win easily. But Switzerland managed to take the game into extra time, where a rebound after a long shot decided everything. "The coaches will analyse Spain's game, and we will prepare at a pretty good level.
- Our guys will have to play in two days on the third day, while the opponent will have a day's rest. Is this a problem?
- A day of rest is important, but it's how you use it that matters. It is important to restore energy and emotions. As for the squad rotation, I think the same players will be out as against France, and the suspended Kryskiv can be replaced by Sikan. We will have an exciting semi-final.
Serhiy Sytnyk