Head coach of the Ukrainian national team Serhii Rebrov commented on his team's 3-1 victory over Malta in yesterday's Euro 2024 qualifying match.
"We have difficult matches with everyone, not only with Malta. We knew how Malta would play in defence. We were preparing and knew that there would be a saturated defence. Yes, we conceded the first goal, but it was a very deserved victory - I thanked the guys. All matches at the national team level are very difficult. In this match, the result came first.
Malta had nothing to lose, they tried to attack. Even when they played us for the first time, they tried to attack. It was important for us to concentrate, to find a balance in attack and defence. Unfortunately, we didn't have that in the first half, but the second half was a different game.
Matvienko's replacement? This is due to the yellow card. After the yellow card, he almost didn't join the fight. This is very important when they have two strikers who cling to the ball. So we decided to play it safe. This is a purely situational substitution.
As for the parallel match in our group England - Italy (3:1 - ed.), I always say that we must think about us, about our game. Thanks to England for helping us. We will fight for the European Championship in the last match," Suspilne quoted Rebrov as saying.