In an interview with UPL TV, the former coach of the national team of Ukraine and Dynamo Kyiv shared his expectations from the Euro 2024 qualifying match between Italy and Ukraine.
Jozsef Szabo- The Italians will be extremely motivated to beat Ukraine. This is a challenge for Rebrov - how to play against such a team.
- Does Rebrov need to change the starting line-up compared to the match against England?
- I think there will be substitutions. Firstly, Yarmolenko can play. He is training in the general group. There are only 3 days between matches, the guys may not be physically fit. Based on this, we should build the game.
- What can you say about our main centre-backs?
- Zabarnyi is very good. He didn't play for Bournemouth at first, but this season he has been playing regularly. He is a good player. He is a strong footballer who will continue to grow. But Matvienko is a bit weak. That's why no one takes him from the top teams, so he stays at Shakhtar.
- What do you think of Zinchenko's performance? Some people criticised him...
- There are such football "experts". However, a player like Zinchenko is very necessary for the team. He sees the field, he is very technical. The attack is built through him. Maybe he's not as good in defence as the conventional Stepanenko. It's a pity there is no Malinowski. I think he is a very good footballer. However, Rebrov understands that Ruslan is out of shape. He has been moving from one team to another and is just getting fit. I think he will definitely call him up in October.
- What do you think of Mudryk?
- He is a weak guy. If he played at Shakhtar somehow, but there he got space and worked with the ball at speed. Here, it's just losses. No one works with him. I once had separate training sessions with Shevchenko, where I told him how he should behave on the pitch. Mudryk does not know this. He wants to be given the ball and do everything at speed. However, sometimes you have to go down for the ball yourself. Just think of Kane. Where did he pass the ball? This is what Mudryk should take an example from.
