Former Ukraine midfielder Yaroslav Homa told what he expects from the final play-off match of the Euro 2024 qualifying round Ukraine - Iceland, which will be held next Tuesday in Wroclaw.
Yaroslav Khoma. Photo — football24.ua"I won't be an original when I say that the Ukrainian national team didn't impress in Zenica. In my opinion, the Bosnians were closer to victory and in the fact that they got off the mark, first of all, they should blame themselves.
The unimpressive play of the visitors in Zenica until the middle of the second half can be explained by the lack of constructive actions from our midfielders. Their intentions were predictable and the Balkans effortlessly stifled the visitors' attempts to get closer to the hosts' goal. The situation on the pitch started to change after Ruslan Malinovskiy, who impressed with his dispatching abilities and Oleksiy Gutsulyak, who provided our offence with width. And as a cherry on the cake - the substitution of Roman Yaremchuk, who became the hero of the match, levelling the score in the final minutes and making a productive pass to Artem Dovbik.
As for their next opponents, the Icelanders, they have a different style than the Bosnians. The Icelanders are more varied, control the ball better, attack a lot on the flanks, and are intrusive. They also have an offensive leader - Albert Gudmundsson, our Malinovsky's teammate from Genoa. And a lot will depend on whether we will be able to neutralise him.
I am sure that there will be a lot of one-on-one battles, because the Icelanders honour the English style, they like to impose a tough fight on the opponent. That's why we need to surpass them in intransigence and demonstrate their best qualities: getting out from under the pressure thanks to one-touch passes, tearing pace, variety of offensive operations, aggressiveness of grenadier Artem Dovbik.
I think that compared to the match in Zenica, the changes in the starting line-up of the Ukrainian national team will be insignificant. Serhiy Sidorchuk may appear in the supporting zone, and Viktor Tsygankov on the right flank of the midfield. The last word will be up to manager Sergei Rebrov, who will opt for a tactical scheme that will be uncomfortable for the Icelanders. And we will also have one "trump card" - 12 players. In my opinion, our players will prevail with a score of 1-0," Khoma said.
