Former Shakhtar Donetsk and Ukraine striker Andriy Vorobey shared his impressions of the 2-0 Euro 2024 qualifying match between Ukraine and North Macedonia in Prague yesterday.
Andriy Vorobey- Andrii, what are your first impressions of the Ukraine vs North Macedonia match?
- First of all, I want to congratulate our entire country on the victory. It is important in our difficult times. The main thing is that our team earned three points.
- Were you surprised by Rebrov's starting line-up, or did you expect to see Bushchan in goal and Yaremchuk in attack?
- For me, the line-up was absolutely predictable. As a striker, I can say that Dovbyk is in top form right now. Yaremchuk, to be honest, is not up to the level of the national team.
I think it would have been more appropriate to bring on Vanat in the second half than Yaremchuk. If we want to get a top striker in a year, we need to gradually improve Vanat - Vlad is in good shape now.
- Let's analyse the goals scored by Sudakov and Karavaev.
- Sudakov has shown that you have to shoot in any situation: whether it's in the penalty area or from long range. Anything can happen, and the rebound confirmed it.
As for Karavayev, there are very few players who see the field, 10 per cent or even less. He seriously assessed the situation and played very unconventionally. It was a masterpiece! Karavaev put a beautiful end to this game. He can sing a lot of praises after such a goal, but let's not do that, we need to get ready for Malta.
- Do you think Zubkov managed to fully replace Tsygankov and Yarmolenko on the right wing?
- Yarmolenko is an experienced player, but he hasn't really shone recently, except in the Ukrainian league, where his level has dropped significantly. But we failed to replace Tsygankov. Viktor would definitely strengthen the game against North Macedonia. At the moment, he is Girona's leading player and plays great football. The national team really missed him.
- Who will you give the Lion of the Match award to?
- Undoubtedly Trubin! Against North Macedonia, we played ambiguously, somewhere we succeeded, somewhere we failed. Ukraine allowed the Macedonians to create many chances at the end of the first half. Thank God, Trubin saved the day, and I'm very grateful to him for that. If it wasn't for his saves and reliability, everything could have ended badly for us.
- Before this match, Bushchan was the first choice for the national team. Can we already say that Trubin has won the competition against him?
- I cannot say that he has won. There is no growth without competition, so you can't relax and feel indispensable. Trubin showed today that he is one of the best goalkeepers, as did Bushchan. Lunin also had some good games for Real Madrid, but now Ancelotti is not playing him.
I believe that Rebrov and his coaching staff made the right decision by releasing Trubin, and it helped us. But I can't say that Trubin is now number one in the national team.
- Were there any players in the Ukrainian national team who disappointed you in yesterday's match?
- I would have demanded more from Mudryk and Zinchenko. They showed nothing yesterday. Mudryk had a couple of passes, but his defensive play does not stand up to any criticism. He can be criticised for a very long time.
I expect much more from Mudryk. In modern football, you need to be able to play not only in attack, but also in defence and in the middle. The same applies to Zinchenko, against the Macedonians he did not move much.
The Ukrainian national team generally looked tired. It is the height of the championship and only the first rounds of the Champions League have been played, so where did the fatigue come from? Maybe it was a difficult pitch, but our guys were moving very hard. I want to see our players be more aggressive, they have to give their all for 90 minutes.
- Let's get back to Mudryk. The statistical portal SofaScore named him the worst player of the match. At Chelsea, Mikhail is not shining either, having only recently scored his first goal, although a lot is expected of him. In your opinion, what is his problem?
- He needs an individual approach, and perhaps a psychologist. He's like a child, you need to talk to him and lead him by the hand, even though he's worth 100 million. In fact, he is a bit overrated, but we have what we have.
Mudryk was given the laurels of a leader and top player too soon. He still has to work and work - through sweat and through "I can't". This is the only way he will achieve results. Yes, Mudryk has great data, speed, vision, but he lacks grey matter in his head to make decisions. This comes with time.
- Couldn't Mudryk have caught a star? After all, if you watch his recent interview with the "fuck off" answers, you can assume so...
- He is under a lot of pressure now. Perhaps it was too early for Mudryk to join a top club like Chelsea. Perhaps Arsenal was the ideal option. But it happened as it did. Now Mikhail has to go through it.
Mudryk can overcome the pressure only through training, hard work and his own desire.
- What about his friend Sudakov?
- Sudakov is a different story. We don't see as much action from him as we do from Mudryk, but he's a real ploughman. Players are divided into two categories - those who play the piano and those who carry it. Sudakov is the one who carries the piano. Georgy is the workhorse, he does a lot of the work. Sudakov is now an important player and the future of the Ukrainian national team.
If he continues to develop and progress, he will be a top player. Believe me, Sudakov will outperform Zinchenko and Mudryk: both in terms of cost and in terms of playing in the top European clubs.
- The national team now has three forwards - Dovbyk, Yaremchuk, Vanat. Do you see any Ukrainian forwards who can compete with them?
- If the UAF gave us more time to watch players in friendly games, we could have recruited players. But the Association says that there is allegedly no funding, although it is unclear where it has disappeared. Every UPL club has players to watch. But I don't see any obvious stars to replace Dovbyk, Yaremchuk, Vanat.
- What are the tournament prospects for our national team? Will we play for a ticket to Euro 2024 with Italy in a head-to-head match?
- Let's talk about Italy in a week. First, we need to tune in to Malta. We need to score against the Maltese, and as many as possible to improve the goal difference. If we don't beat Malta, then all the other games are just for naught.
But, of course, in our subconscious we know that everything will be decided in the match against Italy. Let's hope that the English and Macedonians will take points away from the Azzurri's Scuadra, and it will be a little easier for us.
- What are our chances against Italy if we only need a win? Ukraine lost the first game, at first glance, without a chance.
- There are always chances. We had our chances against Italy, we just didn't use them correctly. We need to show our desire, character and Ukrainian spirit! We need to come out and tune in to the game as if it were the last match in our lives, and we need to leave the field with a sense of accomplishment.
When all the players realise this, we will have a result. In this case, we will not be afraid of Italy, France or any other top teams. The potential of our team is very great - just unreal. We have beaten many top teams thanks to our character and desire.
Andrii Piskun
