Dynamo Kyiv and Ukraine defender Oleksandr Karavayev summed up the 2-0 win over Polish side Lechia for the national team.
Alexander Karavayev (photo: gettyimages.com)- Was physical activity important in this game, or did the coaching staff give you tasks to work out the structure of the game?
- I think there were a lot of discussions about this sparring session, that UEFA insisted on it, but we have one official game, we could have prepared without it. What we were told to do, we did. As our coaches have always told us, any game is better than training. So we played the game, worked out our tasks and schemes. This is also very important. Tomorrow I think we will review this game, analyse the mistakes and good moments. We will prepare specifically for the Italian national team. Everything turned out well, we played a sparring match, we are preparing for Italy.
- What do you think of the level of the opponent? The team plays in the second strongest league, but they have quite serious ambitions...
- The first thing that impressed me was the stadium. Very big, beautiful. I understand that this stadium once hosted Euro 2012. The team is also of a good level. If I hadn't been told that it was a second league team, I would have thought they played in the top league. They are a good, ambitious team. I think they will play in the top league in the near future. We had a good sparring session, I think it was a plus for us.
- The result today did not matter much...
- The result always has weight and meaning. The result is the result. When it is positive, it is a completely different mood, different preparation. Especially when we outplay the opponent in all aspects. Today, it was more important than the result to work out the task given to us by the coaching staff, to see how it would be in the game.
