Former Ukraine midfielder Valerii Kryventsov shared his expectations for the upcoming Euro 2023 semi-final, in which the Ukrainian youth team will face an old friend - the Spanish national team.
Valery Kriventsov- Many factors played a role in this success. These include the selection of players and the quality work of the coaching staff. If you look at the attacking axis, there are almost all Shakhtar players who have been tested in the Champions League. But not only they have shone, Taloverov, Brazhko, Vivcharenko and other guys have been equally good. Together they form a single team mechanism. Rotan managed to achieve his goal - he has players who know how to play under pressure, how to keep the ball, and how to regulate the pace of the game. This is very important, given the heat.
- In recent matches, we have seen the Ukrainian team manoeuvring tactical schemes, which is more important - the coach's merit or the selection of players that allows them to do this?
- We saw how the players transformed from 4-1-2-3 to 5-4-1 during the game due to the lowering of Brazhko, plus Dima Kryskiv did a lot of work with the French, I have no doubt that he will be missed in the match against Spain, especially since I tried Dima at Metalist 1925, he has all the necessary qualities. We'll see what happens, especially since, ceteris paribus, the individual skills of Mudryk, Sudakov and Bondarenko played a decisive role in the game with the French, the latter two scoring in the end.
- Has the current squad maximised its potential or are there still hidden reserves?
- There is always potential in football, and in sports in general. I think that the coaching staff keeps their finger on the pulse of events, follows the players and will probably give everyone worthy of proving themselves, especially since the Olympics are in the offing. It's an ongoing process, because it's not a given that the guys who are playing well now won't lower their standards later.
- What do you expect from the upcoming game with the Spaniards, how different will it be, particularly given the personnel losses of the Ukrainian national team?
- In the previous games, both Spain and Ukraine had a serious rotation, with many of the main players not playing. This will be a completely different match, with its own scenario, intrigue, and we expect very good and high-quality football. In any case, again, I would like to praise the coaching staff of the Ukrainian national team for instilling confidence in the boys, convincing the players that they are no worse, and in some ways, perhaps, stronger than their opponents, that they just need to play and prove themselves. This is evident from the interviews with the players, who say that they will not close down, but will play their football. We are now trying to make something special out of this, but it should be so. We don't need to adapt to anyone, we have strong enough players to play our own football.
Yevhen Savchuk
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