In an interview with Corriere, UAF President Andriy Shevchenko summarized the performance of the Ukrainian national team at Euro 2024.
Andriy Shevchenko (photo: gettyimages.com)- Before the tournament, we divided the task into a social and a sporting one, which was to get out of the group and play well. The team made a mistake in the first match against Romania, then responded well by beating Slovakia and drawing with Belgium, but it was not enough. As it turned out, there is no room for error.
- Do you have more pride or bitterness?
- There is bitterness because the group was within our strength, and I expected more. But we chose the wrong approach.
- Maybe there was too much pressure on the team?
- I don't know what happened, but the reality is that the players were not in the game.
- The only victory was on the day when President Zelensky spoke to the team via video. Was it a coincidence?
- Of course, the president made a very positive message that encouraged the players. The team realized that they made a mistake in the first game, and everything was completely different. There was a proud reaction of the team playing for the nation during the war.
- You don't celebrate the victory...
- No, there is nothing to celebrate.
- Did you achieve the social goal you were talking about?
- Yes, definitely. We wanted to show the reality we live in, and we succeeded. We brought to Germany an interactive installation of the Solnechny Stadium in Kharkiv, which was destroyed by Russian missiles. To date, 500 sports facilities have been damaged or destroyed as a result of the attacks, including 77 stadiums. And big names from the national team spoke about their destroyed cities.
- Yaremchuk, a player in the match against Slovakia, lost 9 kilograms due to depression at the beginning of the war...
- Our mentality is not to complain, but to look for solutions. Since the war started, we have all been affected by tragedy. There are players who have lost not only their homes, but also the whole city they come from. This, however, is no excuse. Our reality now is simple: either we move forward and adapt, or we don't live.
- Ukraine will play at the U-19 European Championship and the Olympics, unlike Italy. Is this a good development?
- There is a good generation. Many families have left Ukraine: children train in Germany and Italy. The center forward of our U-19 team plays for Empoli. Two are in Bayern Munich, the rest in England. And scouting works.
- How do you and your players feel about the difference between your situation and the ongoing situation at the European Championship, when people want to celebrate or despair because of a goal?
- We recognize that Ukraine lives in a different reality. But our fans also celebrated the victory over Slovakia and were very sad about the elimination. Football is about moments of distraction and positive emotions. We created a story with footage of soldiers playing football in base camps and even on the front line! Football has a huge power in our country, and we hope that it will help us to recreate.
Many people provide us with important support. Germany helps us a lot, France, England, Poland, Norway, Romania. The list is very long. And, of course, there is Italy. President Gravina signed a memorandum of cooperation to receive young Ukrainian football players from the most affected cities: the first sixty are on their way. And our young coaches can come to courses in Coverciano.
- What do you think about Italy's elimination?
- I expected more, because you have a system, a championship and important players. Italy did not play at their level.
- But when you hear about heat and fatigue as an alibi, what do you think?
- I would never compare it to our situation, if that's what you want to know. I'm not in the Italian reality, and ours is completely different. But believe me, even here it happens that people say that footballers are spoiled.
- What's next?
- My duty as president is to ensure that football in Ukraine continues to exist: for the championship to start again, we have to train referees, organize stadiums and decide on a schedule, because we have electricity for 4-5 hours a day. For this reason, no comparison is possible.
Paolo Tomaselli
