Dynamo Kyiv and Ukraine midfielder Volodymyr Brazhko shared his impressions of the Euro 2024 play-off match in an interview with the Trendec YouTube channel and told how he had always dreamed of playing for the White and Blues.
Volodymyr Brazhko. Photo: Getty Images- Vladimir, to put it mildly, the game with the Bosnians was very bad...
- I agree. We have already analysed our game, the coaching staff pointed out our mistakes. What didn't work out? We didn't do the things we worked on in the training process correctly. There are a lot of questions, each player needs to understand himself and understand why we are playing and for whom. As Serhii Stanislavovych told us: "The press wrote that this was the match of our lives, but we came out and played not as if we were living."
- Were there any emotions in the dressing room after the match?
- No, because we all understood how the game was played on the football pitch. We won, but we need to improve everything. We talked to the guys in the dressing room, remembered how we lost to Wales after the victory over Scotland. The guys said that this should not happen. We will come out with the mood for the next match and win.
- Is Yaremchuk the Lion of the Match?
- Of course.
- When did you find out that you would be in the starting line-up?
- I found out after a walk on the day of the match. Serhii Stanislavovych called me up and said: "I want you to play". I said I was ready and was already preparing myself. In the afternoon, I had some thoughts, some worries, of course. But I came to the match ready, I can say. Rebrov asked: "Are you ready to play?" I said I was ready.
- Were you shaking at that moment?
- The first two minutes - yes. I came out of the room, sat down, put the phone down, and sat thinking: "Well, I have to play, win, prove myself".
- Who was the first person you told about it?
- My mum.
- And what did your mum think?
- She was more worried about me than I was. I wasn't as worried as my mum. Andrii Yarmolenko wrote to ask if I was playing or not. I wrote that I was in the squad a couple of hours before the match. I said I was playing, he supported me and wrote back: "Don't worry, everything is fine".
I can say that Serhii Sydorchuk had an influence. He told me in the dressing room: "Don't worry, everything is fine". He supported me, and it charged me so much that I went out with a really clear head. I was charged up. And when we came out for the warm-up and heard the whistles from the Bosnian fans, I could say I wasn't afraid, but I was high. They were whistling so loudly, my ears were plugging up, and I was smiling because it was a buzz. I'm looking forward to our match in Wroclaw. I know the stadium will be full. We really hope for their support.
- You have already been captain of Dynamo this season. Do you feel okay about the pressure?
- It's important how you perceive the information and treat it. I worked hard to get into the national team of Ukraine, mentally prepared myself. I had some worries, but I realised that the whole country was watching and I couldn't make any mistakes. If you think about mistakes all the time, they will happen, so I didn't think about it. After the game, I thought that a year ago I was at Zorya and I couldn't imagine that this was possible.
I went through a lot of difficulties - an ACL injury, which caused me to miss 10 months. It changed my thinking and attitude to training a lot. And then I didn't play for Dynamo's first team, I went on loan. This may also have had an impact somewhere mentally, that I should grow and play at the highest level. I prepared myself a lot for Dynamo.
- When you were leaving for Zorya, did you have a feeling that it would be loan after loan?
- Well, I was a bit angry when I went on loan because I wanted to prove to Dynamo's coaches that I was worthy of being in the team. And somewhere along the way, that anger turned into confidence and affected my game.
