The head coach of Minaj, Zeljko Lubenovic, shared his thoughts on the preparation of the Ukrainian national team for the next matches of the League of Nations - against Georgia (October 11) and the Czech Republic (October 14).
Željko Lubenović. Photo — fcminaj.com- Does the epic with Yarmolenko's non-arrival and the publicity around it hurt the team a lot?
- As for me, Yarmolenko is in good shape and I would have called him up, but Rebrov knows better why he was not on the list. We heard Dynamo's information about the injury, that's it, no more questions.
- Will the absence of Zinchenko, Mykolenko and Malinowski be a serious problem for us?
- I think there shouldn't be any problems. Zinchenko played little. Malinowski was constantly coming on as a substitute. They are injured. The strongest players at the moment were included in the application of the national team of Ukraine. The most important thing is that all the players called up are in good shape. There may be questions about Mudryk, but Misha can come up with a moment out of nowhere, no matter what his condition is.
- Can the newcomers to the national team replace the veterans who are on sick leave?
- It's all about business. Hutsulyak and Nazarenko are now in such shape that they deserve an invitation to the national team. Against the backdrop of Shakhtar's poor performance, Kryskiv looks very confident. As for Bondarenko, although he is constantly being honored, he has lost ground compared to the previous two seasons. Although I am very impressed with Artem in his best form.
- Can inviting players who do not represent Shakhtar or Dynamo serve as an additional incentive for players from other clubs to prove themselves in the domestic arena?
- Yes, this is the right step. As for the youth, they still need time to develop. At the moment, the youth players are no better than the existing players in the first team.
- We see new faces up front, although our defense line is generally considered a weak link.
- They [the newcomers] are good players, but it would be wrong to do it artificially. If the coaching staff has called up new people, it takes into account both their personal progress and the need for the national team in these positions and the players' chemistry with other national teams.
- Is it worth using the League of Nations to run the newcomers and throw all your efforts into the 2026 World Cup qualifiers?
- I believe that nothing has been decided in the Nations League yet. The national team of Ukraine has quality players who are not accidentally included in the main list.
Oleksandr Karpenko
