In preparation for the Euro 2024 qualifying match against Italy, which will take place next Monday in Leverkusen, the national team of Ukraine held a sparring session with Lechia Gdansk last Thursday. The game took place at the city arena built for Euro 2012. Four matches of the final tournament of the continental championship were played at this stadium, built in the shape of a giant amber, which has long been made on the Baltic Sea coast.
Test match
"Lechia (Gdansk, Poland) - Ukraine - 0: 2 (0: 1)
Goals: Pikhalonok (22), Nazarina (53)
Ukraine vs: (1st half) - Riznyk (Bushchan, 30), Karavayev, Bondar, Matvienko, Taloverov, Dubinchak, Sydorchuk (K), Malinowski, Pikhalonok (Nazarina, 30), Zubkov, Yaremchuk (Sikan, 30); (2nd half) - Bushchan (Trubin, 60), Mykolenko, Zabarnyi, Svatok, Tymchyk, Nazarina (Stepanenko, 60), Zinchenko (K), Sudakov, Mudryk, Tsygankov, Sikan (Dovbyk, 60).
In this game, the head coach of the national team of Ukraine Serhii Rebrov gave almost all the players present in the team's camp the opportunity to play, and the captain's armband was worn during the game by three experienced performers at once - Serhii Sydorchuk, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Taras Stepanenko.
The late autumn weather added to the players' workload: after a cold but precipitation-free morning and afternoon, the rain started falling as soon as the teams came out for the warm-up, almost immediately turning into a heavy downpour that lasted until the final whistle. The air temperature at the start of the match was 2 degrees, and during the match, interestingly enough, it rose by another 2 degrees. However, it didn't get any warmer: the cold chilled to the bone.
The starting line-up of the Polish team included three Ukrainians - goalkeeper Bohdan Sarnavsky, field players Ivan Zhelezko and Maksym Khlan. In general, the team from the second strongest Polish division stood up to the Ukrainian national team with dignity, although the advantage of the blue and yellows was felt throughout the match. In the first half, Oleksandr Pikhalonok made a successful finish after Serhii Sydorchuk scored from outside the penalty area and Bohdan Sarnavskyi deflected the ball in front of him.
In the second half, a quick pass down the flank by Viktor Tsygankov led to a successful attack, who threw the ball to Oleksandr Tymchyk, who passed it to Yegor Nazarina. The latter's shot was strong and accurate. Mykhailo Mudryk and Taras Stepanenko also had chances to shine. In particular, our captain made three great shots from different positions, but either the ball hit the crossbar, or the goalkeeper managed to parry the insidious shot, or the defenders helped. After the game, his teammates joked that Stepanenko would definitely be lucky in the next match.
In any case, having received a decent physical workout and fulfilled the coaching staff's task, the blue and yellows left the field in a good mood and to the applause of children from the Ukrainian football school formed in Gdansk during the war, whom the national team invited to attend this match.
Today, the Ukrainian national team will continue preparations for the match against Italy in Gdansk.
Oleksandr Hlyvynskyi
