Former Ukrainian national team player Ivan Getsko shared his impressions of Ruslan Rotan's team's first match at the 2024 Olympics.
Ruslan Rotan. Photo: Getty Images- After Dynamo Kyiv's impressive victory over Serbian Partizan in the second round of the Champions League a few days ago, Ukrainian football fans were in a great mood, but yesterday's defeat of our "Olympians" brought everything back to normal.
- But in Lyon, it seemed that everything was under the control of Ruslan Rotan's team: they had the game advantage and took the lead at the beginning of the second half.
- Perhaps this ease had a negative impact on their actions when, after conceding, the Iraqi national team added to the lead and quickly equalized. I agree that the penalty kick in our goal was quite controversial, but it should have only added to the Ukrainians' sportsmanship, especially since the opponent's class was much lower. However, it turned out the other way around: the lack of focus led to a second missed goal and an unfortunate defeat. It was a shock.
- In his numerous interviews before the Games, head coach Ruslan Rotan constantly complained about the problems with the squad, that he had the wrong players at his disposal.
- I believe that the manager should not bring any internal problems to the public. By doing so, he only humiliated the players. Once you get down to business, focus exclusively on the training process. It is also your fault that the guys were not ready yesterday functionally, that the substitutions did not work.
- After yesterday's failure of the Olympians, I recall the recent loss of the national team of Ukraine at the start of Euro 2024 against the Romanians, when it was not possible to catch up later.
- Now the situation is somewhat different, first of all, there was a defeat in Lyon with a minimal score. So all is not lost, but now there is no room for error. We have to beat Morocco and Argentina. Is it hard? Yes, but victories are never easy at this level. The guys must remember that this is an Olympic tournament, which can happen only once in a lifetime. That is why the attitude and attitude to their duties on the football field should be appropriate.
Maksym Kovalenko
