Ukraine defender Oleksandr Karavayev shared his impressions of the Euro 2024 play-off match with Bosnia and Herzegovina in an interview with the Trendec YouTube channel and also told how the team is preparing for the decisive confrontation with Iceland.
Oleksandr Karavayev. Photo: Getty Images- Oleksandr, despite the victory over the Bosnians, the performance of the Ukrainian national team was, to put it mildly, very poor. Do you agree?
- Yes, I do. We have already analysed that match... something went wrong. Together with the coaching staff, we analysed our mistakes so as not to repeat them in the future. A very positive thing is that there are players who want to make a difference when coming on as substitutes. There are matches when nothing goes right, when nothing succeeds, but there are players who can come on and produce results.
- Sometimes the team is unlucky, but our team created the first chance in the 85th minute. What went wrong?
- We did not follow the coach's instructions. Even just moving on the pitch was not the way the coaching staff wanted us to do it. First of all, you have to follow the coach's instructions. Everyone needs to think in the same direction.
It happens that somehow the concentration is lost and someone runs to the wrong position, blocks someone. This breaks the pattern of the game. There must always be discipline on the pitch, no matter what happens. Because the opponent is also playing and is based on the game you show. They can block all your areas, block all your players. You have to be patient and build on your game plan.
- At the same time, there was a match between Poland and Estonia. Estonia also played with five defenders, but Poland simply rolled them over without a chance. And we also expected the Ukrainian national team to be the favourites in their match...
- We said before the game what they always say: "Ukraine is the favourite". But now, in the last 2-3 years, everyone has noticed that football is more or less levelling off. Four years ago, we played against Luxembourg, and now they play very well, even though the country is very small.
- We controlled the ball, but we scored goals after flank passes.
- We were told to play like that from the start, but it happens that in the first half you are just swinging, and then - after conceding a goal - you start to switch on. Maybe we have such a psychology. Only after such a "cold shower" do we start doing what we agreed. Then we get our chances, score goals and win. After the match, we ask ourselves why we couldn't have played like that from the first minutes.
- There were no special emotions in the dressing room after the match. Was it because of the level of play?
- Yes, I think that was the reason. Everyone understands our potential, how we can play, and we didn't play at the level we can play at. Even the matches against Italy and England were completely different. Serhiy Stanislavovych thanked us for playing to the last second and pulling out a victory. Then he went to a press conference, and we talked to each other as a team about what happened. Everyone has to understand themselves and their game. Everything should be different in the next match. It will be the last game, so we can't make any mistakes.
