Defender of the national team of Ukraine Ilya Zabarny on air Youtube-channel UAF told how he coped with the pressure on the team after the defeat from Romania (0:3) in the opening match of Euro-2024, and also called the strengths of the national team of Belgium, with which "blue-yellow" will play in the final round of the group stage of the European Championship.
Ilya Zabarny- How did you survive this incredible pressure on the national team after the defeat to Romania?
- I understand that this is part of soccer, and in this case, part of our national team. Especially when there is no result, and at the same time our game and our commitment were not at the right level.
So I knew that it would happen, I understood what would happen in the media. The main thing for us was to analyze our game with Romania and understand why it happened, why we let it happen. And after analyzing this match, I saw exactly where we lost. And I immediately started working on it for myself. And if I see that someone underperforms in something, I talk to him about it. This is normal.
- What to expect from the match against Belgium?
- The Belgium national team is a very good team with high quality in the attacking line. There is nothing to hide. Very strong sides of this team are dribbling, the Belgians beat their opponents a lot and shoot a lot on goal. We will prepare for it. We will analyze their strengths.
But I think that we'll build on our game. Of course, we will adjust to a particular opponent, but we must not forget about our own game and what we will use to create our chances. It is important. Because we need to play only to win.
- How do you assess the physical condition of the team?
- Before the start of preparation for the Euro all the guys had different condition, of course. It was immediately felt. Some needed loads, some needed rest. But we had a very good preparation for the Euro, and we really needed these three friendly matches. I think we played all of them at a good level. Which of the guys lacked something at that moment - they added to it. So we approached the Euros well.
Now, after the second match of the European Championship, physically the team is still ready. Even at the last training session for recovery, I saw that both physically and mentally all the guys are energized and ready.
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