Myron Markevych, the Honoured Coach of Ukraine, shared his impressions of the Ukrainian national team's victories over Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland in an interview withKommand 1, which allowed Serhii Rebrov's team to reach the final of Euro 2024.
- I will not be original when I say that in the match with the Bosnians, we expected more from our guys. Perhaps somewhere we did not find a significant counter to the tactical scheme adopted by the hosts with three central defenders, but for one and a half hours all attempts to break through to the Balkans' goal were unsuccessful. Moreover, it did not come to scoring chances at all.
- But when it seemed that there was no hope for salvation, we managed to break through...
- Head coach Serhii Rebrov made the right substitutions, using the second striker, Roman Yaremchuk, who was destined to become the hero of the match. The flanks became more active, and there was more width in offensive operations, which the Bosnians were not ready for. In the end, we had some luck on our side. However, as the saying goes, luck is with the stronger.
- The opponents in the decisive match, the Icelanders, played a different style to the Bosnians, who played openly from the defensive. Compared to the match in Zenica, which positions required strengthening in Wroclaw?
- I already told your colleagues before the match in Poland that I had questions about the game with the Bosnians to Oleksandr Zinchenko, Artem Dovbyk, and Oleksandr Zubkov. In my opinion, Ruslan Malinowski, Viktor Tsygankov and Roman Yaremchuk should have come on instead from the first minutes. I am pleased that Serhii Rebrov shared the same view. By the way, I drew attention to the fact that he is not afraid to take risks. In Zenitsa, he entrusted the debutant Volodymyr Brazhko, although it seemed that veteran Serhiy Sydorchuk had more chances to play in the centre-back position. Yesterday, he replaced the seemingly untouchable Zinchenko and Dovbyk. And he was not mistaken.
- But the tactical pattern of the Ukrainian national team was not perturbed...
- Yes, the Ukrainians acted according to the usual 4-1-4-1 formation. Except that Mykola Matvienko came out with the captain's armband.
- What has changed in the game of Rebrov's wards compared to the match in Zenitsa?
- There was speed, both in manoeuvres on the field and in working with the ball. The merit of this is, first of all, Viktor Tsygankov. Roman Yaremchuk played the role of a winger effectively. The trust of the coaching staff in his current team, Valencia, has done him good. He is again confident in his abilities, again focused on scoring goals. Yaremchuk is a more versatile striker than Dovbyk, and this helped to keep the Icelandic defence on their toes yesterday. And somewhere you can only envy Rebrov, who has a lot to choose from.
- Both goals of the Ukrainian national team were somewhat similar...
- They were the result of the Ukrainians' superiority in speed. Viktor Tsygankov and Mykhailo Mudryk were left unguarded and finished with accurate shots. This is exactly the case when they used their trump card to the maximum.
- Unfortunately, once again we failed to keep our goal intact...
- This is somewhat worrying. We concede very easily. There were positional mistakes, there was a lack of safety net. There is still work to be done.
- When the Icelanders took the lead, did you not fear for the final result?
- No, because unlike the match in Zenica, the game was under our control. And sooner or later, the advantage in class had to pay off. And so it happened. The guys are great, they won a victory so necessary for Ukraine in this difficult time. I am convinced that our brave soldiers, who are now defending Ukraine from the Russian aggressor, were also happy. And we should also pay tribute to the 12th player - the fans who drove the Ukrainian team forward. The support was fantastic. This is how this victory was achieved through joint efforts, and I am sure it will not be the last in the current European campaign.
Vasyl Mikhailov