Former Ukraine national team player Vasyl Kobin spoke about the qualities that our guys need to demonstrate in order to compete with the English.
Vasily Kobin - I had to take part in the only match so far in which the Ukrainian national team defeated the English. It was at the Dnipro Arena on 10 October 2009 in the qualifying for the World Cup. Thanks to Serhiy Nazarenko's accurate "shot" we won - 1:0. A lot has changed since then, perhaps, and the England national team was not so strong, although back then it had Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, but we managed to dominate thanks to scrupulous study of the opponent, motivation, reliability of goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov. I think, if today these "trump cards" of ours also work, our chances of giving a fight to the British will increase.
- In your opinion, will a draw be a positive result for the Ukrainian national team?
- If we lose in the course of the match, yes. You know, the role of the head coach has become very noticeable now. His staff includes specialists of different profiles, but everything is decided by the helmsman, who analyses the given facts and makes a decision. I hope that today our Sergei Rebrov will surprise his English colleague Gareth Southgate with his game plan.
- What do you mean?
- I am not going to be an oracle, because I do not have information about the condition of our players. That's why it is difficult to say what tactical scheme Rebrov will stop on, who he will entrust to fulfil the tasks. It will be possible to talk more specifically about what worked and what did not - after the final whistle. Although it is possible that the emphasis will be placed on high pressing from the first minutes, or on a quick goal, or maybe unexpectedly throw Vladislav Vanat - our only striker, who has the necessary game practice.
- If we talk about game practice, a whole group of our players - Vitaliy Mykolenko, Roman Yaremchuk, Taras Stepanenko, Andriy Yarmolenko - cannot boast of it.
- There is no need to dramatise the situation. These are experienced players, who compensate for the lack of game practice with motivation, the desire to play hard. They will be fine.
- And yet, what "trump cards" do you need to have to give a fight to the English?
- The England national team today, indeed, has almost no weaknesses. And yet, I would be interested to offer them to compete in speed. We have mobile players, Mikhail Mudryk is worth only. However, we should not go into this topic, because Rebrov has the last word anyway. I estimate the chances of the opponents as 50/50.
