Former Shakhtar Donetsk and Polish national team midfielder Mariusz Lewandowski shared his impressions of the 3-1 game between the Kadra and the Ukrainian national team with theSbirnawebsite.
- Mariusz, con gratulations. Congratulations to Kadri on their victory. Did you expect such a confident victory for Michal Probież's team?
- We won, I'm happy (smiles). In fact, this game was decided in the first half. Poland played very aggressively, in a forceful manner and scored three goals before the break, and then acted on the result. Kadra made great use of standard positions: Valyukevych and Romanchuk scored after corner kicks. This is the component (playing on set pieces) that Ukraine needs to work on in order to avoid such mistakes at Euro 2024.
- Ukraine played in an experimental lineup at Narodnyi. What about the hosts?
- Yesterday, Michal Probiez also gave playing time to players in whom he may not be fully confident. Today, by 00:00, he needs to remove three players from the national team. Rebrov has already done it, but our coach has not. That's why the team had a somewhat experimental lineup.
- Were there any unexpected losses for you on the eve of the match ?
- Milik got injured in the game itself out of the blue. It looks like he won't be going to Germany. A big loss for our national team. I feel sorry for Arkadiusz.
- How did you like the performance of our national team?
- It was clear that Ukraine wanted to play more with the ball and Poland, after scoring the third, actually gave the initiative to your team. Ukraine could have scored much more than one goal. After the break, there were a couple of good chances, but our goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski played reliably. Yesterday, Rebrov released a lot of players from the start who raise questions for him, that is, he was testing the reserves. He gave game practice to those who had little of it. Your team didn't play yesterday, just like Poland.
- Who is the main star of the 2024 national team of Ukraine ?
- Speaking of yesterday's game, I liked the way Ruslan Malinowski and Artem Dovbyk played the most. These two I would single out personally. Speaking about the Ukrainian national team as a whole, you have good wingers. Viktor Tsygankov, Mykhailo Mudryk, and Andriy Yarmolenko.
In the center of the defense you have such a strong guy - Ilya Zabarny. Mykola Matvienko is also at the same level. Let's not forget about Taras Stepanenko in the center. It's even good that he didn't play yesterday. He got some extra rest. He will have more strength for the Euros. Taras is not very young anymore, we must admit.
And you have top goalkeepers now. Andriy Lunin from Real Madrid and this one from Benfica. Trubin, I remember. Against Germany (0:0), he (Trubin) played really well.
In general, I think that the main virtue of this Ukrainian national team is the fusion of youth and experience. At the Euros, Ukraine has every chance to get out of the group. Your group is definitely easier than ours, because Poland will play against the Netherlands, Austria and France(the rivals of the Blue and Yellows at the Euros will be Romania, Slovakia and Belgium - ed .) It will be difficult. It will be very difficult.
- It's a bit of a mouthful. So you think Ukraine is one of the favorite teams in the quartet?
- Yes, I do. Ukraine will definitely reach the last 16 of the Euros. Maybe even further. Then we will have to see who will be our opponents in the playoffs. The most important thing is that the guys don't get injured. So that Rebrov can use all the players he will take to Euro 2024.
As for the fact that Ukraine lost to Poland yesterday, you shouldn't look at the result. It was a friendly game. The Euros are another matter, and everything will be completely different as soon as the starting whistle blows in the first match.
- As for me, the strongest national team of Ukraine was our team of 2006, which made it to the 1/4 finals of the World Cup. Andriy Shevchenko, Serhiy Rebrov, Andriy Voronin and several other very cool and already legendary players. You should remember that team well too. Is Serhii Rebrov's current team stronger in terms of potential than Oleg Blokhin's?
- I believe that the current Ukrainian national team with Dovbyk, Mudryk, Tsygankov is no worse than the team in which Shevchenko, Rebrov and Shovkovsky played. This team has everything to demonstrate no worse results. The current generation must give such a result at the Euros so that when they grow old they will have something to tell their children and grandchildren about.
- When you were playing for Shakhtar, there were a lot of legionnaires in Ukraine. Blokhin complained about this, pointing to the lack of playing practice in the national teams before the 2006 World Cup. Now, what can Rebrov complain about if the level of the UPL has dropped and almost all the best players are abroad?
- I think there are a lot of great players in Ukraine now who play in strong teams. And I'm not just talking about Dynamo or Shakhtar. I'm talking about your legionnaires from Europe abroad. Ukrainians play well in good teams and championships. They play, not sit deep in the reserves.
Except that Oleksandr Zinchenko somehow did not have a very good season at Arsenal in London. The rest are in plain sight: Dovbyk had a very good season in Spain. Tsygankov, Zabarnyi, Mykolenko, Mudryk, Malynovskyi. They all had game practice.
- Mariusz, if our teams meet in the playoffs for Euro 2024, expect another call. It is desirable that Kadra and our Cossacks play somewhere in the 1/4 finals.
- God willing (smiles).
Viktor Hlukhenkyi