Former Ukraine midfielder Eduard Tsikhmeistruk shared his impressions of the Ukrainian national team's performance in the Euro 2024 qualifying match against Malta (3:1) the day before yesterday.
Eduard Tsikhmeistruk- Compared to the match in Prague against North Macedonia, the head coach of the Ukraine national team Serhiy Rebrov made three changes in the starting line-up. What do you think about the game of Karavaev, Sidorchuk and Vanat?
- Karavaev, with his successful substitution in the previous match deserved to appear in the starting lineup. Sidorchuk played in place of Stepanenko, and Vanat replaced Zubkov. To say that these three players fit into the team's game and strengthened it - no.
- And what impression did you get from the game of our national team?
- Ambiguous. Losing already in the opening game, we had to get back into the game. But watching the actions of our guys, it was not obvious how we could change the situation on the pitch. We all realise that in Europe, all the national teams have learned to play football. And these are not empty words.
Maltese players actively pressed for 15 minutes, and we, as it seemed, were not ready for it. Perhaps, it was a lack of spirit on our part. And then a miracle happened - a Maltese player scored an autogolt. There is a big difference in what score to go to the break. Nobody likes to lose.
- Let's analyse the home team's goal. The home team's striker Mbong ran away from Matvienko very easily and shot between the legs of Trubin. What's wrong with Matvienko's speed?
- We know very well the game of Mykola Matvienko. He is an experienced footballer and plays due to skilful choice of position, good passing, he is great at connecting to standards at other players' gates. Speed has never been his thing. But here we got a fast forward and that's it. Plus, it should be noted the mistake of our midfielders, who did not prevent to make an accurate pass to Mbonga.
- At half-time we saw Rebrov's reaction - he replaced Matvienko, releasing Svatka on the pitch. Usually defenders are not changed at half-time...
- You are right, centre-backs are not changed at half-time. The defencemen's chemistry is important here. Perhaps Matvienko has something with his health, or maybe Sergei Stanislavovich saw that Nikolay was not playing. Svatka's substitution proved to be justified. He played reliably in defence, and the team won. In general, in the second half, our defence became calmer.
- At the end of the first half Artem Dovbik put our team ahead, realising a shot from the eleven-metre mark. Why only in the seventh match of the qualifying tournament, our forwards scored the first goal?
- Of course, we are all used to forwards scoring goals. And here is such a series... We need to sort it out. Artem always has moments, but he failed to realise them. In Malta, Artem. It does not matter how the goal is scored - the fact itself is important. It will add to Dovbik's confidence in his abilities. Although he is already scoring in Girona.
- How do you assess the second half for the Ukrainian national team?
- The second half, as well as the whole game, was nervous from our side. The score 2:1 is quite dangerous. You seem to want to score the third goal to calm down, but at the same time you need to keep the minimum advantage. What I saw: our national team did not play a solid game in Malta. An away win, with such a game, is the most important thing. It's good that everything ended this way. I think, no one enjoyed the game of the Ukraine national team with Malta.
- Mykhailo Mudryk scored his first goal for the Ukraine national team. Is it important for him?
- Of course. Mudryk is under a lot of pressure both in Chelsea and in the Ukraine national team. A lot is expected from him. In Malta, he earned a penalty and then scored a goal. In this attack he developed a high speed, easily beat the defender and powerfully shot from outside the penalty box into the corner of the goal. After this moment, all fans of the Ukrainian national team breathed a sigh of relief. There were still 5 minutes left to play, plus compensatory time. And any attack or standard of the hosts could lead to a loss of points.
- Did you like the game of the team captain Oleksandr Zinchenko in this meeting?
- I did not. Sasha plays in a strong club and a great championship. Therefore, expectations from his game are high. The way he plays at Arsenal and the way he played in Malta are two big differences. Besides, he was the captain on the pitch. We did not see the whole picture in his game. Everything fell apart into small episodes. Although here we should praise the players of the Maltese national team. They put pressure on our players and scored quite a beautiful goal.
- Ahead of our national team in the selection for the Euro - nominally home match with Italy. On the 20th of November in Leverkusen, Germany, the second national team will be determined, which will keep the company of England, from Group C, in the final part of the European Championship. What are the chances of the Ukrainian national team to take the second place in the group?
- If we speak objectively, the Italian team has more chances to take second place. But this is the situation for the middle of October. And what will change in a month - we will see. However, they need to win against North Macedonia first, and then play with our national team. Remember, after the draw everyone said that Ukraine had almost no chance to qualify for the Euro. Still, we admit that our guys have a very difficult group. But we showed that everything is possible in football. The main thing is that everything is in our hands. There is still a month before this meeting, and I would like to avoid injuries.
To take second place we need to beat our direct competitors. So everything is fair. If we beat Italy, we will go to the European Championship, which will be held next year in Germany. On the 20th of November our players need to be 200% ready to succeed against the Italians.
