Volodymyr Sharan: "I would single out Dynamo's Bragara and Rubchynskyi, they played a great game"

Famous Ukrainian coach Volodymyr Sharan shared his impressions of the Ukrainian Olympic team's game against Iraq (1-2).

- Volodymyr Bohdanovych, what were your impressions of the game?

- It's hard to find the right words... You know, it was obvious that the guys wanted to win, you could see their attitude to the game, their motivation, they were burning. I am sure that it is out of the question to talk about underestimating Iraq, but...

- Were our guys burning out psychologically before the game? It is still the Olympics. Not even the European Cup.

- What I saw, no. I don't think we can talk about the factor of psychological problems, such as burnout, excitement, etc. Before the conceded goal, our guys played super. I liked it very much.

It was our national team at Euro 2024 against Romania (0: 3) that came out on the field as the winner, clearly overestimating themselves, while the Olympic team did not. I did not see this.

- The level of play of the Iraqi national team surprised you, because I've heard from some friends from the world of football that they say how can you lose to such a team. They say they have fields in the desert and so on.

- The Iraqi national team closed down in defense, which was predictable, trying to play exclusively on counterattacks and through standard positions. It is very difficult to open such a layered defense.

You need to have individually strong players, especially wingers. Performers who are not afraid to take the initiative. And we have such players. For example, Maxim Bragaru and Ilya Krupsky. It was they who created two good chances in the first half due to their individual skills, first of all.

You know, I think Ukraine played well, but... There are days like this and matches like this. Unfortunately. After Valentyn Rubchynskyi's goal, I was sure that Ukraine would win.

- Should Ruslan Rotan have "shoved" Taloverov for the penalty? Because, yes, the Iraqi player fell very picturesquely, but Maksym also had his hands on his back and pushed him, albeit gently.

- No, come on. Nowadays, referees turn a blind eye to such moments. In modern football, they don't give penalties for such fouls. Refereeing is generally... How can you give such a penalty? It's ridiculous. Or horror. I believe that the unfair eleven-meter penalty was a kind of psychological blow to Rotan's boys.

Before Ukraine's game, I watched the match between Morocco and Argentina, and the referee "invented" a penalty there, too. The qualifications of the referees at the Olympics are very questionable. Where was the man who refereed Ukraine from?

- Mr. Ismail is from Sudan.

- Maybe in Sudan they judge like that, and it's okay, but at the world level you can't do that.

I'll tell you this: if such a penalty was given at Euro 2024, this referee would no longer referee matches. I'm one hundred percent sure.

- What do you think of the second goal against us?

- This is both a team mistake and a personal one of our goalkeeper Kyrylo Fesyun. You can't concede such goals. How many shots did Iraq have? I just didn't look at the statistics?

- There were exactly two shots on goal, as well as goals.

- To lose such a match... It's terrible. Before the match, I was sure of our victory. Well, let's say a draw, but not a defeat. And, once again, I would not like to criticize any of the players, because the score was not about the game at all.

- Which of the Ukrainian players did you like the most?

- I would single out Dynamo's Maksym Bragara and Valentyn Rubchynskyi. These two showed a great game.

- For objective and not-so-objective reasons, Ruslan Rotan could not take all the players he would like to see in his team to the Olympics. Based on the results of the first game, who do you think Ukraine missed the most?

- Before the Olympics started, I had a conversation with Rotan's assistant Serhiy Kravchenko. And I said right away that I would miss two players: Anatoliy Trubin and Artem Bondarenko.

-Next up is Morocco. Do not go to a fortune teller, a very difficult team, "nasty", I would even say, at least given what I saw in the game against Argentina. What are your expectations for Ukraine's second game at the Olympics?

- Now a lot depends on Rotan to find the right words, to set the team up, because now we really need to beat Morocco. And Argentina, preferably(laughs).

I also watched the game between Morocco and Argentina and I liked the African team. In the first half, they outplayed the Argentines. Yes, after the break they sat down and switched to playing from the defense, but overall the team is very good. you can see that physically all the players are at a decent level, the technique is also present. Morocco is a lot stronger than Iraq, so it will be very difficult to beat them.

For some reason, I think that against Morocco, Ukraine will no longer play as the first team, but will act from the defense.

Viktor Glukhenkyi