The head coach of the Ukrainian Olympic team Ruslan Rotan commented on his team's2-1 victory over Morocco in the second match of the 2024 Games.
Ruslan Rotan. Photo — uaf.ua"We should pay tribute to our guys who had a good attitude. Even when we were in the minority, we wanted the result, we fought for it. They deserved it, 100%. It only equalized our chances. We have the last match in the group, where we don't have to look at who we are playing against (against Argentina - ed.). I think it was a small lesson for the guys, and we have a lot of new players who are playing in such tournaments for the first time. They saw that it is possible to beat the Moroccan national team, which had players who reached the semifinals of the World Cup. We have to give them credit for that.
Then the recovery, playing two days later on the third day, is very difficult. We have to focus on how to recover better. This is very important for us. We are looking forward to the match. We already know Argentina. Our little final against Argentina will be in the group. As for the game, if we play like we did in the first half, it doesn't matter who is against us, we will play from a position of strength. In the second half, the game changed a little bit, and we left a lot of energy when we were in the minority. But again, I want to pay tribute to the guys. They deserve it, they deserve it for our soldiers and Ukraine. I want to congratulate everyone on Ukraine's first victory at the Olympic Games.
If our players had played at the level of the Moroccan national team, we would have played the second half at the same level. This is psychology, it changes a lot. This is the first tournament for the boys, the first such matches with the fans. I said before the game that it was unusual for many of us, that we were used to waiting for the alarm, playing in front of empty stands. We have not seen this for a long time. Honor and praise to the guys. I think this experience will only benefit them. We don't need anything, no applause. We are doing our job, no matter who. We have three points and a tough opponent ahead, the favorite not only of our group but of the entire tournament. I want the guys to hear us: we came to this match as if it were the last one and gave our all to win.
The most important thing now is to recover. We have to be in a super mood, to get all the emotions we have left for this match. This little final will decide the fate of our progression," Suspilne quoted Rotan as saying.
