Former Shakhtar Donetsk and Ukraine striker Oleksiy Belik shared his impressions of the Euro 2024 play-off match between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine (1-2), which took place yesterday in Zenica.
- Before the game, the starting line-up of our national team was quite predictable. Perhaps, with the exception of the goalkeeping position in the support area. What do you think of the choice of Lunin and Brazhko?
- It so happened that now our national team has three good goalkeepers - Lunin, Trubin and Bushchan. All three goalkeepers have regular game practice. I think Lunin's advantages are, firstly, that he plays in a stronger Spanish league and plays in a big club. Of course, the name of Real Madrid influences everyone, but Andriy Lunin has earned a place in the Ukrainian national team through his work. He won the competition against Kepa, and Courtois' injury undoubtedly helped him. The choice of goalkeeper for this match is the prerogative of goalkeeper Rustam Khudzhamov. He sees everything in the training process.
As for Volodymyr Brazhko's appearance in the starting line-up, I did not expect it. I thought that Sidorchuk, Shaparenko or Malynovskyi could play in this position. These three players have a lot of experience in international matches. Yes, not all of them are used to playing in the support area, but they would have been able to cover this position. However, Serhii Rebrov started the powerful Brazhko, who is skilful against taller opponents. He also played confidently against Jacko several times, placing his body correctly.
- Over the past 10 years, all the holding midfielders have been from Zaporizhzhia - Stepanenko, Sydorchuk, and now Brazhko. How do you explain this?
- I don't know (laughs). Yes, all these guys are pupils of Zaporizhzhia Metalurh, which is used to playing from the defence, maybe that's why. In general, Brazhko played a good match, although our team's performance was far from the best. We won a strong-willed victory, but with a lot of nerves.
- Why, in your opinion, did the first half pass without any shots on goal, since Lunin and Shekhich never came into the game?
- The cost of a mistake in such a match was extremely high. This is the play-off stage, where everything is decided in one evening. The head coach of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team, Savo Milosevic, played with three central defenders for the first time. And it is difficult to play against such opponents.
When the Ukrainian players had the ball, we were more confident, but we were looking for options to continue our attacks for too long. In general, Zinchenko and Sudakov had good control, but they almost never managed to deliver the ball to Dovbyk. I noticed that Mudryk and Zubkov often went backwards in search of the ball. We were unable to break down the home defence in the first half, where three central defenders were assisted by two more wingers. And we did not make this massive defence make mistakes.
The hosts played more vertically, constantly putting pressure on the two forwards - Jacko and Demirovic. Edin Dzeko, an experienced 38-year-old striker, skilfully latched onto the balls, earning standards at the gates of our national team.
- What were your thoughts in the 56th minute of the game when Matvienko cut the ball into his own net?
- It was clear that nothing had been decided yet. We had a lot of time to win back. However, we played without a goal again. It was only in the 75th minute of the match that Mudryk shot on target for the first time against Shekhich. And even such a shot from 30 metres makes the opponent nervous. It is already necessary to cover the kicker, to rebuild in defence. It was only at the end of the match that Mudryk accelerated our attack, throwing Yukhym Konoplya into the breakthrough, who shot at Yaremchuk.
- Why didn't Serhii Rebrov make any substitutions until the 76th minute of the match, when we were losing and needed to change something?
- All of Serhii Rebrov's substitutions worked, and that's the main thing. If we had lost... That's when it would have started. And it was logical that Roman Yaremchuk, a textured forward, came on the pitch.
- You were a striker in the past, which of the attacking players did you like more in this match - Dovbyk or Yaremchuk?
- I can't help but praise Artem Dovbyk. He was guarded by two defenders and a third player was insuring his two partners. It's hard to play like that. However, there are also questions about Dovbyk, whether he needs to open up better.
As for Roman Yaremchuk, he benefited from playing in La Liga. He played differently in Valencia. Often in Spain, he plays in a two-forward formation, so Yaremchuk feels like a fish in water here. And the healthy competition between Dovbyk and Yaremchuk helps both of them. If Artem scores 15 goals in La Liga, Roman can score as many. All this is for the benefit of the Ukrainian national team.
- Do you agree with the opinion of our national team fans that Roman Yaremchuk was the MVP of the match?
- Absolutely. Coming on as a substitute, Yaremchuk scored the most important goal and also gave Dovbyk an assist. From my own experience, I know how difficult it is to come on as a substitute in such matches.
- Can our head coach put Dovbyk and Yaremchuk in the starting line-up for the game against Iceland?
- Everything can happen. There should be a discussion with the coaching staff. I remember that Roman Yaremchuk played in the back nine in the qualifying match against Portugal. He can also play on the left, conditionally in Mudryk's position. Roman has speed, we saw it in the episode with the second goal.
But here it is important to study the game of the Icelandic national team, to understand how they operate. So far, I can't form an opinion on the game of the Icelandic national team - for this you need to see several of their matches and analyse everything. You need to understand that it will be difficult with the Icelanders, they give little space to their opponents.
- Were you surprised by the fact that our coaching staff entrusted three debutants - Brazhko, Hutsulyak and Taloverov - to play in this match ?
- No. All those who were called up to the national team deserved it with their performance. The guys need to be given a chance, even if it is a super important game.
- Our national team has an important game ahead in Wroclaw, Poland, against Iceland. How do you see this match?
- As I said, our coaches need to study the opponent's game carefully. We have not often met them. It is clear that the Icelanders have many players who play in European clubs. Some play in Italy, some in Germany and France. The same Gudmundsson, who scored three goals for Israel, plays in Italian Genoa alongside Ruslan Malinowski. Everyone knows the character of the Icelanders. It is clear that our guys will not lack motivation - everyone wants to play in the final of the European Championship. It is probably good that we will play in Poland, where many Ukrainian fans will come to the match. Now we need to get all the guys back to full fitness so that they are ready for this match.