Former Ukraine national team player Andriy Polunin shared his impressions of the Euro 2024 qualifying match Ukraine vs England (1:1) and told what he expects from the next match of the Ukrainian national team in this tournament - against Italy, which will be held today in Milan.
Andrei Polunin"The conceded goal was Mikolenko's individual mistake".
- Andriy, of course, you watched the Euro 2024 qualification match Ukraine vs England. What feelings were left from that game?
- The matches of the national team... You cannot miss them, even if the circumstances are against it. On the day of Ukraine-England match I played for the veterans' team in Lutsk, then I went to the railway station with Oleh Shelayev, we already had train tickets. It so happened that I watched only the first half live. But I watched the second part of the match at home, in the recording.
- Did you believe in the success of our national team?
- Of course, I hoped and believed that we would play well, at least we would not lose. After Rebrov took charge of the Ukraine national team, there was a hope that this coach would be able to restructure the game, the team would start to play more disciplined. And so it happened: in general, the game showed it.
There were no obvious failures in defence. Yes, the English had a couple of chances: Saka shot, but Georgi Buschan played great, then McGuire dangerously crossed the standard with his head - and that was it. We also had a few chances in front, one of which we converted into a goal. At the same time, we played a great combination. In general, we played reliably, except for Mikolenko's positional error, when we scored a goal in return.
- Do you think that the missed goal is on Mikolenko's conscience?
- Yes. He lost his position, and when he saw Walker's rush, it was too late. It was obvious that Mikolenko is not in his game tone now, and maybe it affected his actions.
- Could Matvienko, the centre back, have backed him up?
- I think not. Now there are a lot of thoughts about who is to blame for the missed goal. Even Buschan was brought here, as if he did not close the near corner. However, if we consider the whole episode as a whole, we have to ask a question: why didn't anyone cover Kane? The same Yaremchuk or one of the supporting players. So you can put everyone in there. For example, if Zabarny took half a step forward, and that was it - offside. I think the conceded goal was an individual mistake of Mikolenko.
- In general, the flank, where Mikolenko and Mudryk worked, did not look very good. Do you agree?
- In principle, you are right. Our right wing looked better than the left one. But let's be honest: Mudryk, as well as Mikolenko, are not the main players in their clubs today. They both lack game practice. They were given a chance in the national team, but when you are not in the game tone, it affects the quality of your actions. And the right flank, where Konoplya and Tsygankov played, of course, was more memorable, and the goal came from it. One ran in and the other gave it to Zinchenko.
"I do not understand how it is possible to call a man who has no game practice for six months to the national team"
- Konoplya played his best match for the national team?
- One of the best. He also had a match against North Macedonia, in which he scored a goal. He also played very well in that match. He was in the right place at the right time and scored. It turns out that we won that match - he scored. And here he gave a goal - we played a draw.
- What can you say about our offence line?
- I won`t say anything. Perhaps, I have no right to judge what and how. I can only express my opinion. I don`t understand how you can call a man who has no game practice for six months to the national team and immediately put him in such a game. But coaches know better, because they analyse and see the physical condition of the player. Maybe Yaremchuk's performance is good, I don't know.
Now I see that Yaremchuk has not played for the last six months, even a year. It was like that in Benfica, Brugge, now he has just moved to Valencia. We'll see what will come from this transfer. And whether or not to include him in the squad is the coach's decision. The result is there - everything is right.
- In your opinion, someone else should play up front?
- Yes. Either Dovbik or Vanat. Dynamo player has a constant game practice. Dovbik also constantly played for Dnipro-1, now he plays in Girona, as long as they give him time. For me, they are better than Yaremchuk. But this is my personal opinion. I do not want to impose it on anyone.
"I do not know the criteria by which people are called up to the national team".
- Rebrov did not call up a number of midfield players for the game against England. What is your comment on this?
- I do not understand why Nazarina was called up to the national team. The man has played a few games at Shakhtar and is already in the national team. Before that, he was hardly ever included in Shakhtar's squad. And Malinovskyi was left out of the national team, although he played in the last games for Genoa.
Why were Bondarenko not called up? Perhaps, he does not fit the tactical scheme that Rebrov is implementing. Bondarenko plays on the ball - he "sits down" more. Even if we take Sudakov: in the match for the national team, he did not play the football that is inherent to him at Shakhtar. He acted higher. It is Rebrov who sets such a task for him.
Personally, for example, I like Pikhalenka's game. I see him as a national team player. Kochergin deserves a call-up to the national team, but for some reason he is not called up. Although he plays steadily - he scores. The guy became the champion of Poland. I do not know the criteria by which people are called up to the national team. Each coach has his own philosophy. As they say, we have what we have.
- You mentioned Pihalenka. He was called up because of Shaparenko's injury, but he was not called up for the match. Perhaps he is not in shape?
- How can he be out of shape? He played all the last matches for Dnipro-1. We are not talking about the fact that he has to play the whole match. Let's say, he would be out for 20 minutes. If you put Dovbik on the pitch together with Pikhalenok, you get a chance to score a goal somewhere on the counterattack. When the English put pressure on our goal in the second half, these two could organise a return goal. After all, they have a perfect understanding between them.
"We can not lose in Milan, the minimum is a draw"
- Italy are ahead, what can we expect from this game?
- Italy are not showing very good results at the moment. They have changed the coach and the squad. We have two games ahead of us. What I see: everything is in our hands as well as in the hands of the Italians. Whoever plays better will be second in the group - after the English. Of course, neither North Macedonia nor Malta can be discounted, but our two games against the Italians will be the key games in the group. We cannot lose in Milan, the minimum is a draw.
- Is it realistic for our national team to beat Italy?
- Why not? Nowadays every team can beat every team. Look, Armenia could beat Turkey. Only at the end of the match the Turks barely escaped. But Luxembourg beat Iceland - 3:1. If you choose the right game plan and then implement it, you will get results. We just need discipline in defence and sharp play up front.
- But we have never beaten Italy, we have not even played a draw in similar selection matches. Will this psychological burden pressurise our guys?
- I think not. In our national team now plays a generation that has never played against that Italy, which was really a star team. Italy is not the same now. It's not 2006 and it's not the mid-90s. The Scuadra Adzurra have no Ballon d'Or winners or unequivocally the best players in the world in their positions.
Besides, most of our guys play in clubs of serious European level. I do not think that Zinchenko, Zabarny, Tsygankov, Mikolenko will shake their legs in front of the Italians. They are cooking in high-level football.
- We play in Milan. How big will be the role of fans who will come to this match?
- No matter how you look at it, but Milan has a big stadium. I think it will be full. There will be our fans, of course. But there will be more Italians, but it should not worry us. It may have been a big difference in my times: when we played in our half-empty stadiums, which gathered a maximum of 7-10 thousand, and when we came abroad, and there in the stands beat - 50 thousand. Of course, it put pressure on us. Ours in the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga or the same Italian Serie A have not seen such empty stands as in the Ukrainian championship, they also know what the factor of full stands is.
Oleksandr Petrov
