Former head coach of Dynamo Kyiv and the Ukraine national team Leonid Buryak told what he expects from today's match of the 4th round of the Nations League Ukraine vs Czech Republic.
Leonid Buryak. Photo — O. Vasilieva- The Czech national team is not an easy opponent. If you could draw a parallel with German soccer, I would characterize it as a small Bundesliga. The Czechs and Germans have similar soccer, similar organization, similar players. Of course, we can't fully compare the players of these countries, because Germans are Germans.
If we talk about the Czech national team, it is made up of trained and physically strong players. They play at the expense of their own powerful qualities. Czechs are very organized, especially in defense. Any game with them - both at the club level and at the national team level is hard enough. In Czech soccer and in my time still played a lot of high-level players - Viktor, Panenka, and Negoda, and many others. Then Czechoslovak soccer disconnected, but the style remained quite serious. Those who know and who saw their game in different years could be convinced of that.
- What do you think, due to what our national team in today's match with the Czech Republic can surpass the opponent?
- I think that the Ukrainian national team has a little bit higher performance skills. After all, many of the main players who play in its lineup, for various reasons will not be in today's game - in particular, Zinchenko, Yarmolenko, Malinovskyi. They, as well as several other players, are of a higher level.
But we have a player who plays very well on the counterattack - it is Mudryk. Everyone knows what kind of player he is and how he plays. In my opinion, this is one of the most important and talented soccer players in Ukraine at the moment. I think that we should build the game around him, because speed is a thing that is very important in soccer now. And no matter how reliably our opponents defend, Mudryk can create danger. He knows how to do it, when he runs into someone else's penalty area and scores. And I say so not because he scored the winning goal for Georgia, but because not all players can do this: come to soccer and become a star from the first touch of the ball. Although they make a star out of him. I think Mudryk is one of the most talented soccer players in our country in recent times.
- Now many experts are talking about the harmonious infusion of Ivan Kalyuzhny into the national team, who was excellent in the supporting zone in the opening game.
- I don`t see a big difference between Stepanenko and Kalyuzhny. Yes, our team played well against Georgia. We somehow have this way: what is not a comment - it is either a legendary player, or a legendary coach, or legendary other people. That's all great. But time will tell what and how. We are looking for and collecting players who could help the Ukrainian national team. Ukrainians have always set the tone in the international arena. Back in the Soviet Union, in every national team, from youth to national, there were 50 percent of Ukrainian players.
And you know that every bad victory brings its own vibes: it is easier to prepare, there is a certain courage. But when there is no result and there are defeats, and also when everyone around writes different nasty things, it is certainly difficult. And the president, and the coach, and the players. There is pressure on the coach, and the coach in turn pressures the players. They gather, there are unpleasant conversations around it.
And rightly Maximov said that every victory is worth its weight in gold. Indeed, it is. Especially in the situation Ukraine is in now. Today several missiles flew into my native Odessa, and it's a disaster. Therefore, in a difficult time for all of us every victory on the soccer field is of great importance.
Ivan Zinchenko
