Legendary Ukrainian coach Vitalii Kvartsianyi told NV why Ukraine's national team must reach Euro 2024.
Vitaly Kvartsyanyi- What are your expectations from the game between BiH and Ukraine?
- If the Bosnians have the mood and concentration, it will be difficult to beat them. Everything depends on their mood. This is their mentality - to be content with little. Serbian Marko Devic always said: "Why do I need this, why do I need that?". And I answered: "Give me more!". Money motivated him. But it is very difficult to combine motivation with results with them. Balkans are always secretive. If they agree to do a task, it is not always the case. They may not finish the work. And why? Well, that's how it is. So let's hope that they don't finish the job with the Ukrainian national team. We definitely need to win. We need to make sure that the opponent does not have the concentration and attitude to beat the Ukrainians by any means. Our team's priority should be mood, professionalism and the desire to win. We are all waiting for this. Our guys have to die on the pitch to beat them. If we relax somewhere and they are at maximum concentration, it will not be easy for us. After a missed goal, they can either give up or get angry. This is my opinion, I know their psychology. Perhaps I am wrong. But any nation wants to win: the Chinese, the Mongols, the Americans. Everyone wants to win. Our national team has it in some matches, but still, something is not right. Either the post gets in our way, or the mud, or some kind of ricochet... It's been like that for about 5 years now. A ricochet and we get a goal, no one expected it. We played better, but lost. This is the lack of concentration. Now everything will be decided by the nation's mentality and responsibility to its people. They were at war, and we are now at war. That is why we have to show maximum military and national opinion. We have to win.
- What does this game mean for our players and for Ukrainians in general?
- I wish our guys to win, it can't be otherwise. It is important for Ukrainian football to go to the European Championships so that we are known and remembered there. This will be another step to unite us even more and distance ourselves from Russia. Russia will not be there, but we won and qualified. We need to pass the Bosnians, and then Iceland or Israel. This is our desire, this is our face in Europe. Let the players read and understand this. If the Poles don't get through, and we do, we will tell them at the border to keep going. We are Ukraine and we have qualified for the Euros, so open the way for us, because we are going to Germany, passing your Poland. This is a very important and political moment to calm some people down and raise our profile. This is after all the recent events, if someone is nervous and does not like something about Ukrainians. Ukrainians are the strongest nation in Europe. We are superior to everyone else. We have everything: fields, mountains, forests, seas. And they want to take it away from us, because someone doesn't like it, the s...ts are finished. And not only Russians, but also Europeans want to take something from us. Our land and resources.
Nazariy Shmigil
