Former Ukraine forward Ivan Getsko has commented on the results of the Euro 2023 (U-21) semi-final match between the youth teams of Ukraine and Spain (1-5).
- I will not be original if I say that no one expected such a failure from Ruslan Rotan's charges. After all, in their previous encounters at the Euros, our countrymen proved that they have their own style, know how to value the ball, and always put their best foot forward. After all, after Bondarenko opened the scoring, nothing foretold such an embarrassing outcome.
- Many experts believe that, having taken the lead, the Ukrainians should have been more compact, without giving the Spaniards the space to find the shortest possible route to the goal.
- I agree, it is possible that, having opened the scoring, our players overestimated themselves somewhere and failed to react to the Spaniards' momentum in the course of the match.
- After the final whistle, Ruslan Rotan hinted at the fact that his players had not managed to recover after a tough quarterfinal game with the French, in particular, a delayed flight to the Romanian capital had a negative impact.
- You know, if you want, you can always find a lot of reasons for failure. The main thing, though, is that the boys did not play at their level, except that Mudrik was not afraid to take the initiative, but in the closing stages he restricted himself to the role of a shell supplier, figuratively speaking. Other key performers - Sudakov, Bondarenko, Trubin, Taloverov - were disappointing.
- Somewhere in the course of the match I found myself thinking that it was somehow reminiscent of the recent encounter between Shakhtar and Feyenoord in the Europa League.
- Indeed, yesterday too, everything flew into the net, which was defended by Trubin. Our keeper again failed to make a save, with at least two goals on his conscience at the crucial moment.
It makes me laugh, when after Trubin's save in any match there are reports that the giants of European football want him in their ranks. Perhaps Anatoliy may end up in some famous club in the future, but for now he still has to work and work on his shortcomings.
They say that the most memorable game was the last one. Our team failed it yesterday and we had to forget about the final. Overall, though, our players' performance at UEFA EURO and Olympic licence winning should be regarded as a success. That's why yesterday's drop was so painful. But maybe it was good that the Spaniards put our team on the spot. Since against the Spaniards, the Ukrainians looked tactically helpless, with their poor passing technique.
Frankly, despite the draw in the group stage, I thought the Spaniards were favourites to play the Ukrainians again, but I didn't think they were that strong.