Former coach Jozsef Szabo commented for 1927.kiev.ua on the scandalous episode in the Ukraine-Italy (0-0) match.
- I didn't sleep all night after the match. The Ukrainian national team played very well, had a great second half and could have won. Before the game, it was clear that the refereeing would not be objective, after Alexander Cheferin's statements. Holding such a position, he had no right to say such things - which team should go further.
There was a 200% penalty in the episode with Mudryk's fall. But Cheferin's statement played a role. This is injustice. If such a violation had occurred outside the penalty area, the referee would have recorded it. Mudryk won space from the opponent and the latter knocked him down. I watched a lot of replays - it was a penalty, no question about it. Oleksandr Cheferin should resign. We need to ask what he told the referees and what recommendations he made to them. Even if the defender had played with his hand, they would still not have wanted to notice it.
We can say that there are still people in the leadership in Europe who decide who should go on and who should not. This is far from a sporting principle. This is not right, especially today, when Ukraine is in such a difficult situation. The judges clearly pulled Italy through to the European Championships. Do the Italians give more? Do they gather more spectators? Why is this not the first time that Ukraine has been treated like this? This is a blatant case.
The Italian national team does have top-class players, but we proved that we are worthy of playing with them. In the second half, we outplayed the Italians, who started playing to preserve the result. I believe that the Ukrainian national team should qualify for the European Championship. Rebrov was a very disciplined player, and he still has it and it is transferred to the team. He understands tactics and knows how to build a game. No matter who we face in the play-offs, the national team of Ukraine must go through," said Jožef Jožefović.