Famous Ukrainian coach and authoritative expert Oleh Fedorchuk told us why the Ukrainian Olympic team defeated the Moroccans 2-1 in the second match of the 2024 Games group stage.
Oleg Fedorchuk- Currently, the development of events in the group where our Olympians are competing is reminiscent of the performance of the national team of Ukraine at the recent Euro 2024. Again, an unexpected defeat at the start from an outsider, after yesterday's victory over a much stronger opponent, returned the intrigue, and now there is nothing left but to defeat the favorite, Argentina, in the final round.
As for the game against Morocco, in this situation, with the score at 1-1, we would have been happy with a draw. On the other hand, there were prerequisites that everything could end happily for our team. Firstly, it was very difficult, but the Ukrainians endured and fought back quite organized, secondly, our goalkeeper made a spectacular performance in the frame, and thirdly, the manager Ruslan Rotan made the right substitutions: with the appearance of Krasnopir, the ball began to linger in the front line, which allowed us to win space, and he successfully played to his partners. And most importantly, I know the answer to why African national teams, which have always had world football stars in their ranks, have never won prestigious competitions. Why? Because they lack game discipline. For them, it is important to play spectacularly, to attack with great force, and what happens at your goal is secondary. At the end of stoppage time, our team took advantage of the fact that the Moroccans simply did not return to their positions, but this is their problem. Yesterday was just the case when order beat class.
Substitutions were also in favor, while the African manager made a mistake with the reserves. It's good to see the guys improving, because Argentina, which has several world champions, is ahead. However, this should not frighten Ruslan Rotan's wards, you can't go far in football with just names, you still need to make sure what they are worth without Lionel Messi. Let's hope that our Olympians will win and, unlike the national team of Ukraine, they will use their chance to get out of the group," Fedorchuk said.
