On Wednesday, 15 May, Rivne will host the Ukrainian Cup final match. Expert Oleksandra Sopko shared her thoughts on the upcoming confrontation.
Oleksandr Sopko (photo: V. Perehnyak)- For the Cup games, one of the main, if not the main, components is motivation, emotions, dedication and discipline. This can even level the difference in class between the teams. It is Vorskla who will be adjusted in this regard, tuned as a tool to the fullest. And Shakhtar, of course, have burned a lot of petrol. I mean physical strength. It is always difficult to get into the right mood after such a surge.
15 years ago, Vorskla won the final against Shakhtar. There is such an episode in history. For the first time, Poltava won the Ukrainian Cup in a match against Shakhtar. At that time, Shakhtar also couldn't cope with their emotions after winning the UEFA Cup.
Vorskla's game is also unpredictable, the team can play in different ways. It demonstrates games that are very successful, and not so successful. That's the danger of such teams - they can shoot hard once when you don't expect it. Then it's a game where you don't have to win in regular time. It can be delayed to a penalty shootout. "Vorskla has a good goalkeeper, who made his debut in big football with a penalty shootout and made history even then. Therefore, I think Vorskla's tactics will be predictable: they will play from the defence, waiting for Shakhtar's mistakes to play on the counterattack. And try to decide the outcome of the match in a penalty shootout, if it comes to that," said the Donetsk resident.
