Iceland captain Johann Berg Gudmundsson commented on his national team's defeat to Ukraine (1-2) in the final play-off round of the Euro 2024 qualifying round, which took place yesterday in Wroclaw.
Johann Berg Gudmundsson (right) vs Ruslan Malinovskiy"It's hard to accept this defeat. We played well in the first half, opened the score, but then, I think, we "sat" too deeply in defence - this allowed the Ukraine national team to take full control of the ball.
At halftime we talked about the fact that we need to hold the ball better. We managed to do it partially, but we did not create any chances, and Ukraine showed their strengths. This team is very good at controlling the flanks, pulling the opponents' midfielders on themselves. It is difficult to cope with it.
We were not always able to effectively press, but when it happened, the Ukraine national team was at a loss. It's a shame we couldn't make it happen more often," Gudmundsson said during a post-match flash interview.
Translation and stylistic adaptation - Dynamo.kiev.ua, when using the material hyperlink is mandatory!
