Former Ukrainian national team player Eduard Tsykhmeystruk told us how our players managed to beat the Vikings at home and explained why such a small country without natural fields has no worse results than Ukraine, which has green grass.
- You played against the Icelanders in 1999. We beat this team away and it is the only victory over the Vikings in our history. How did you manage to do it?
- Well, we had a very good team back then. There was a good set of people, we could feel it. The only thing was that it was very difficult to play there. It was very cold. Iceland doesn't have very football-friendly weather conditions, let's just say. I remember that we earned and converted a penalty and then kept the score. I came on as a substitute and had a very good chance. But I didn't score because the goalkeeper played well, and maybe I should have taken a better shot. It was a tough game. It was difficult even to fly there, and then to get there. The scenery there was so beautiful that we thought we were on Mars. Everything was so unusual.
- We played four matches with the Icelanders in our history and won only once. It is said that it is very unpleasant to play against the Icelandic national team and that they are one of our most difficult opponents. Why is it them?
- Compared to 1999, they have a completely different team now. They have developed, we saw what they did at the 2016 European Championships when they knocked out England. They used to play with fighting qualities, but now they have also added to their understanding of football. That's why it's difficult. It is very good that we are not playing in Iceland. This is a plus for us, because it would be many times harder there. But we have a chance and a good chance. We just need to play the football we know how to play. We need to remove this academicism and add aggressiveness. It is important to understand that this is a chance to make a name for our country throughout Europe. We need to go to the Euros so that everyone can see that we fight, live and play football.
- Iceland is a very small country, they don't have natural grass fields. In Ukraine, the situation is better, but people complain about bad pitches. Why?
- Complaining is the last thing we should do. If you look at it this way, our pitches are not much better than they were when I played. But I can't say that our pitches are bad either. In the game with the Icelanders, it will not even be the pitch that will decide, but the mood and skill. And our guys, who play well in European clubs, have all this. Poland has a pretty decent pitch, and if they can do all this, then everything will be fine. The main thing is to do it right. There was some inexplicable nervousness with the Bosnians, especially in the first half. The game did not look coherent. And at the end of the match, when they showed their best qualities, they scored twice. Yes, we had some luck. But you can't play football without it. And the pitches in Ukraine are not so bad.
- Ukraine and Iceland played once each at the World Cup. Although their country has 400,000 people, and there are a hundred times more Ukrainians. How is that possible?
- If I had an answer to this question, I would be working in some offices and solving everything. I don't know why this is so. Perhaps they pay more attention to this. They focus on the development of football because they understand that it is the most popular sport. Iceland uses a whole programme to retain its young people. The leadership of this country does not want people to leave their homeland en masse, so they organise various subsidies and payments. They are moving in the right direction. And why is it not the same here? It's not even related to the war. For some reason, I don't know. I can't say that we have fewer talented young people. We have a lot of good players. Why don't they make it to the first team? I don't know, I can't say. I don't have an answer to this question, but I believe that our country is rich in talent. But there are a whole bunch of different reasons.
- What will the game be like this time, will there be a bus in defence or will the opponent play openly?
- The Icelanders always play aggressively. First and foremost, it's pressure. And what kind of pressure will it be, high or in the middle of the field? I don't think they will run into the attack and it will be an open game. This is the game of life for both them and us. This is the game that decides who will go to the forum. I think it will be a cautious game. And if under certain circumstances someone scores first, it will become more interesting and anything can happen. Then the tactics will only change. Otherwise, it will be no different from the game with the Bosnians. I just hope that our guys will play better. We now have a generation that plays in Europe. We should be able to play as number one, but for some reason we don't do it very well. I think there will be no open football.
Nazariy Shmigil