Former Dynamo Kyiv forward Viktor Leonenko shared his expectations for the decisive Euro 2024 match against Belgium for the Ukrainian national team.
- According to the FIFA rankings, the Belgian national team is the third best team in the world. In your opinion, does it have a fair place in the world table of ranks?
- What I saw in the match with Romania, what they did to their opponents, yes, they belong among the best teams in the world. I was generally betting on the French or the English to win the European Championship, and after Belgium's game in the second round, I had more favorites in the tournament.
- What exactly impressed you?
- I don't know how our players will play against Lukaku. The striker puts his body in such a way that it is extremely difficult to take the ball away from him. Three goals were disallowed. Of course, it's fair. But this shows his high level of skill. He creates chances and really wants to score. Although he plays for the team. Lukaku does a lot for the Belgian national team's attack. When the moment allows, he hits the goal. And mostly, the second-string players rush under him and wait for a discount for the final shot. It is impossible to stop them, except by breaking the rules.
And de Bruyne is a genius. He is allowed to be on any part of the field. Just as Zidane was once allowed in the French national team. The actions of these players pose very difficult tasks for opponents. I think everyone understands what our team's tactics will be in the decisive game. The 26th is the "day of the ball selection".
- Playing on the counterattack is our trump card.
- We play on the counterattack against almost all opponents. It is sad. We played two matches and created, in fact, only one truly scoring chance. When Shaparenko scored against Slovakia from Zinchenko's pass. They write, though I don't understand why, that we have a "star team". And for some reason, this team does not create goal-scoring chances. Despite the fact that the guys are technically gifted, we build the game from defense. After two games of our national team, it's hard to single out anyone. Except for Trubin.
- Without his agility in the first half against the Slovaks, it would have been difficult for us to turn the tide.
- Our best player on the field is often the goalkeeper. Shaparenko, of course, did well, he scored and passed, but these moments were after Trubin had saved the team several times. It should be said that when the goalkeeper is the best player, it means problems in defense. And the goalkeeper can't always help out. Like, for example, Lunin with the second goal against Romania. In the game against Belgium, we need to somehow strengthen the defense. This team makes almost no mistakes when it comes to bleeding to get the desired result.
- Defense is not the strongest link of the Ukrainian national team. Where to look for reserves?
- Rebrov answered this question himself when he was forming the team for the game against Slovakia and making substitutions. He said that he put everyone he could on the field. On the one hand, this indicates an even lineup, but on the other hand, it means that there was no leader on the field. Lunin or Trubin will play - it doesn't matter, the main thing is that the goalkeeper helps out. Because it will be hot at our goal. Our national team needs a person who would be a leader on the field. With the Belgians' territorial advantage, we will be able to respond with counterattacks.
- At one time in Dynamo, when the opposing team had a striker of Lukaku's level, the coaches assigned him a personal guardian. Fedorov and Golovko knew how to play like that. Can Serhii Rebrov take such a step?
- Now they don't play like that, they act in a line that is saturated in numbers. And Lukaku once neutralized Khacheridi. I don't know of any other examples. In our case, it takes two players to neutralize the Belgian forward. It is difficult to approach him, there must be a backup. Preferably in the support area. Where Tielemans scored against the Romanians. One does not allow the back, the other blocks possible passes in the support area. Lukaku is a guy like Salenko. The latter, however, ran, and, as they say, carried someone else on his shoulders.
- We have speed on the flanks.
- Mudryk, yes, can use his advantage. There are chances to score when there is speed. True, he does not always make the right decisions near the opponents' penalty area, but he creates chances. In the game against Belgium, there will be few of them, but there will be opportunities to score. And it must be used. And in defense, we must play tightly and without mistakes.
- In the game against Slovakia, our team failed in the first half. Why, in your opinion, did this happen at a time when, on the contrary, it was necessary to achieve a result?
- Perhaps the excitement, whether we had time to forget the defeat in the opening match. The inconsistency in the actions of the players was striking. There were many mistakes during passes, and in simple situations. This shows the level of the players. In addition, the striker, or, as Volodymyr Bezsonov says, the "tip", did not cling to the ball. When this happens, it is difficult to organize an attack.
- What else would you note in the game of the Belgian national team?
- Apart from the leaders Lukaku and de Bruyne, the team is very balanced. The threat can come from anyone. They realize that they will have to overcome a strong defense, so they will use all opportunities to break it. We will have to be very careful when playing set pieces. The Belgians score a lot of goals this way.
- There is a possibility that we will not even be satisfied with a draw, because if the parallel game between Romania and Slovakia ends peacefully, we will remain in last place in the group with four points.
- Anything is possible. I don't know how it will be on the 26th, but before that, most of the games for us were, so to speak, lucky. Luck is not the least important in football. So there are two questions left: can we or can't we, lucky or not.
We have the most interesting standings - everyone has three points. It's interesting that Romania and Slovakia are satisfied with a draw. I think that's how they will play. Although both teams, if they win, have a chance to leave the group from first place.
- Then only a victory will suit us.
- The Slovaks admitted that they were lucky in the game with Belgium. Let's hope that fortune will turn to us as well. We bring a lot of goals to ourselves. Lunin and Zinchenko have already made gifts to our opponents at the Euros. So we can't make any mistakes at all, because we have problems with creating goal-scoring chances. Let's hope that the Belgians will not only play themselves, but also let us. Then we will try to score on the counterattack.
Gennadiy Chekhovskiy