Former Ukraine national team goalkeeper and now famous Ukrainian coach Yuriy Virt told what he expects from the play-off match of the Euro 2024 qualifying round Bosnia and Herzegovina - Ukraine, which will be held tomorrow in Zenica.
Yuri Wirth. Photo — nkveres.com- I am convinced that in Zenica, the spectacle will take a back seat. The main thing is the result on the scoreboard. I feel that it will be hard, but the Ukrainians will tip the scales on their side. They will celebrate the victory in regulation time. I agree, the Balkans will have the advantage of home walls, but we have a more balanced squad, players with extensive international experience, and its importance at key moments is growing.
- In your opinion, what tactics will the opponents follow?
- Most likely, the home team will be pushed forward by the fans in the opening period. We will have to withstand this pressure, and then with the help of well-coordinated actions in the middle of the pitch we should try to seize the initiative and bring the game to victory.
- Domestic football fans are concerned about the absence of the long-term leader of the national team - Taras Stepanenko in the supporting zone.
- No big deal, in my opinion, Serhiy Sidorchuk will be able to qualitatively replace him in this position. Sidorchuk is not bad at tackling, his ability to fight for top balls will come in handy. And Serhiy is also a patriot of Ukraine, he must unite the guys to get a victory in this difficult time for Ukraine. Any disrespect to the opponent is out of the question. The mood for victory should be maximum.
- Name your version of the starting line-up of the Ukraine national team in Zenica.
- Lunin, Konoplya, Zabarny, Mikolenko, Matvienko, Sidorchuk, Tsygankov, Sudakov, Zinchenko, Mudryk, Dovbik.
- Are you not concerned that our forwards - Artem Dovbik and Roman Yaremchuk - have had their sights down for a long time?
- There are some concerns, but this is exactly the case when Zenica can prove that this slump is accidental.
I believe in the coaching talent of Ukrainian national team coach Serhiy Rebrov, who had enough time and opportunities to study the Bosnians' game in detail and decide how to make them go down. Moreover, with their play in recent matches our countrymen have proved that they deserve to be among the participants of the Euro finals in Germany. It remains to confirm this on an official level in Zenica and next week in Wroclaw.
