Volyn's iconic coach Vitalii Kvartsianyi shared his impressions of the Ukrainian national team's 2-1 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Euro 2024 play-offs.
Vitaly Kvartsyanyi- Vitaliy Volodymyrovych, how did you like the game? Did you have to take Validol?
- Of course, I was nervous. It's good that we managed to get this victory, which is very difficult and extremely important. I must admit that Ukraine was definitely stronger. Yes, we played very cautiously for a long time, but you could see the superior class of our players, which helped us to end the game in our favour.
As soon as our team slowly started to pick up the pace and imposed a fast game, Bosnia fell apart. The individual skills of the Ukrainian players played a decisive role. That's why we won.
- The game was turned around thanks to Serhii Rebrov's successful substitutions in the end, when the coach threw fresh Ruslan Malynovskyi and Roman Yaremchuk into the fray. Would you agree?
- Serhii Rebrov went all-in. His bet on two strikers paid off. The presence of two powerful forwards, Yaremchuk, who came on at the end of the game, and Dovbyk, whom he did not take off but left on the field, forced the Bosnians to make mistakes in defence. That is, we immediately saw their weaknesses in the centre of defence. In the end, Ukraine dominated and could have scored the third goal.
This match was a typical cup game, a knockout game. There was a lack of quality of play and pattern, but the result is the most important thing.
- I'll tell you honestly: until the 85th minute, I almost lost faith that our guys would be able to save the game. And you?
- I had faith because Bosnia stopped playing after scoring a goal. They were just on the pitch, existing, waiting for the final whistle. Did you see any normal Bosnian combinations? I didn't. Moreover, there were not even any bright individual actions. It was a complete mess.
All they were trying to do was to bring down the attacking impulse of Ukraine. Bosnia didn't want to create anything else, they were happy with the 1-0 score. There was no logic, no technique, no speed in their actions. If Bosnia had beaten Ukraine, it would have been somehow unfair.
I liked not only how Yaremchuk came out and played right away, but also Malinowski. Even though Ruslan didn't play much, he showed some great high-speed actions, his technique, and dynamic manoeuvres. It's a pity he didn't finish a combination with his trademark powerful left-footed shot.
Unlike Malinowski, some of our midfielders played too sluggishly, making some incomprehensible passes backwards or forwards, rolling the ball, and Ruslan came on and immediately refreshed the game.
- Before Yaremchuk's goal, Savo Milosevic also tried to freshen up Bosnia's game. He brought on Miralem Pjanic, for example.
- In his youth, Pjanic could have shown something interesting, but now he is not the same as he was at Juventus. And in general, not a single Bosnian player has proved himself to be worth talking about separately.
Edin Dzeko, for example, was playing on his last breath. He was used to being at the forefront of the attack, finishing, but here he had to run around the field, look for balls, tackle, fight, dodge... Although Jacko stood out somehow, their other striker, I don't know where they got him from. From some Malinowka team (we are talking about Ermedin Demirovic, the nominal midfielder of the German Augsburg - approx. V.G.). He is very weak. Neither to receive, nor to beat, nor to pass.
- Was the goal named after Mykola Matvienko, that is, the penalty kick, purely his fault?
- The Bosnian player made a shot there, it is clear and clearly visible from the replay. The problem is that our defenders allowed this shot to be made, to which the player carried the ball 10-15 metres, and no one met him.
- Vitaliy Mykolenko just flopped backwards in front of Amar Dedych.
- In terms of position, yes, it was Mykolenko who should have met Dedych or Matvienko there to provide cover, rather than sit deep in the penalty area.
- And how can we not mention the absence of Taras Stepanenko.
- It's true. Probably, Stepanenko would not have let the Bosnian player run away, having met him on the approach to the penalty area. Of course, Taras was missed. With his experience and ability to choose a position.
- What did you think of Vladimir Brazhko's performance?
- He played very well. He was a little bit poor in terms of destruction: he held and caught opponents' hands, and did not quite make coordinated movements during the selection. However, in general, he looked confident. Volodymyr just doesn't have enough experience to be where he needs to be in time to avoid violations. He was a little late and had to foul.
- Was Roman Yaremchuk the best player of the match? There are no options here or would you single out someone else?
- Yaremchuk both scored and passed to Dovbyk, so yes. Let's call him, as they say on TV, the "lion of the match".
- Ahead, Ukraine faces another difficult opponent - Iceland, which crushed Israel 4-1 away from home. Again, we will face a team of the largest size, with almost every player over 190 centimetres tall. By the way, you used to like them at Volyn.
- If Ukraine plays monotonously, then the athleticism, strength and discipline of the Icelanders will prevail. In addition, Iceland can play aggressively. Again, due to the size of their players up front.
- But not just because of their size. For example, Iceland also has a striker like Albert Gudmundsson, a teammate of our Ruslan Malinowski at Genoa, he is not a grenadier (177 cm), but rather a technical striker. He scored three goals for Israel, just for a second.
- This is a representative of a new generation. Not the one that played at Euro 2016 and reached the 1/4 finals. After that historic European Championship, this team has already undergone a change.
I don't follow Iceland's performances too closely, to be honest, but if they beat Israel, which is on the rise, 4-1, then the team there is definitely decent.
Perhaps the war in Israel had such an impact on the outcome of the game and the fact that they played on a neutral field, I don't know... You need to watch this match on the record, because they played in parallel with Ukraine, I didn't see the match and it's hard to analyse.
- What does Ukraine need to do to qualify for Euro 2024 without nerves?
- First of all, it is not necessary to play chaotically and uncoordinated. That is, there is no need to mindlessly foul, grab opponents by the shirts, push them in the back, and so on. In the match against Bosnia, this was enough.
- That's right, Yukhym Konoplya earned a yellow card out of the blue, in the centre of the pitch.
- It's somehow rustic, grabbing the shirt like that... You can't play like that at the national team level. As for how Ukraine should act, our team, our players, again, need to show their class, to play from the position of favourite. This team has potential!
Viktor Hlukhenkyi
