Ukrainian journalist Ihor Semyon talks about the results of the Ukrainian national team's performance at Euro 2024.
Photo: uefa.comI'm so sick of this, by God... It's the same thing every year. "The main thing is not victory, but participation," "If you fall down, know how to get up," "You need to support the national team," and other slogans of losers. But you need to support your pants with suspenders when they fall down. And when someone commits outright f...ng, you have to ask for the result and demand responsibility.
What Serhiy Rebrov did with this national team at this European Championship is a branded f...k. Why were there three friendly matches before the forum? In the last of them, Vitaliy Mykolenko, the only normal left back in this national team, got injured. Couldn't someone else have been called up instead of dragging an unprepared player to the Euros? Or at least Karavaev - it wouldn't have been worse than "Zinchenko, forgive me, Lord, is a left back".
What were those mind games with the goalkeepers? In fact, the number one position is played by one "Mr. Reliability", and all the others simply insure him. And you need to please everyone with game practice in backyard football, not in the process of preparing for the Euro. Pleased? Since Lunin defended "zero" against weak Moldova, it is necessary to put him in the first game of the Euro. They did. He made two shameful gaffes, despite the fact that the goalkeeper, who can be called the best player of the Ukrainian national team in this tournament, was sitting on the bench. Despite the overall failure.
Was anyone going to solve the problem of the inability to defend during set pieces? In a friendly match, the Poles undressed the Ukrainian national team in this component like a lover before sex. Not just undressed, but also laughed - read the Polish journalists after our sparring with them. The Romanians then skillfully put pressure on the standards. They were preparing for the Euro, yes.
Rebrov almost ate a journalist at a press conference before Belgium when she asked him about the one goal Slovakia did not score that Ukraine would have needed. But, gentlemen, you were not playing for yourselves. At least, you declared loud words about "the whole of Ukraine," "our people in difficult times," and the Armed Forces. But then listen, accept criticism, take responsibility adequately, or frankly state that we are playing for ourselves. Because the criticism in the context of Slovakia is fair, the late Mykhailo Fomenko would have applauded standing: to play the support player Sydorchuk, then the defender Taloverov, when there is an opportunity for the tired, physically and psychologically exhausted opponent to score more, and to correct the catastrophic goal difference after the first round, which, even then, was obviously going to play a role after the third round. Although, this is so in the spirit of the times - not to see beyond your nose (as someone said: "Who knew it would be like this" (c)). Slovakia itself scored two goals - they needed to keep the score up to shed a tear after the match.
We kept it to the point where Belgium had to be beaten. There are no fools - it's clear that the Romanians and Slovaks would have drawn with each other. But with the Belgians, it seems, they played not for victory, but for Rebrov's "reputation." God forbid we should lose. But a draw is a great result. Look, most of the fans are applauding. It doesn't matter that this result made us fourth in what is essentially the weakest group for Euro 2024. A cunning manipulative tool - it's usually the last step that is remembered. But no, gentlemen, it doesn't work that way. The whole tournament is a failure. And the draw with Belgium is part of this failure.
Let Rebrov be asked why players whose team is in last place in the table twenty minutes before the end of the group round are jogging to replace them. And then someone else dares to reproach the Belgians for stalling near the corner flag. But hey, they were in the playoffs. And where do we go? Rebrov says that "there are no comments on the match with the Belgians". And about the tournament in general?
Rebrov's answer to all the questions seems to have already been given - he blamed everything on the players after Romania. Although it is clear that the lion's share of this failure is the fault of the coaching staff. And to support the national team after this is to smooth out the responsibility for the failure, to instill a sense of irresponsibility in the perpetrators. You need to support them, but only when there is an accident, a set of unfavorable circumstances or injustice.
In this case, it's just banal negligence...
Ihor Semion
