Andriy Shakhov: "Not a single player who came on as a substitute in the second half strengthened the game of the national team o

Renowned journalist Andriy Shakhov commented on the draw in the Nations League match between Ukraine and the Czech Republic.

"After Albania won against Georgia, a unique situation could have developed in our group: if Ukraine won against the Czech Republic, all four teams would have gained six points. But this did not happen - a draw. And we must admit that a draw is the most logical and natural outcome of such a match.

The game was really equal. Even though the Ukrainians had more possession, the Czechs outperformed our team in terms of both the number of shots and the number of shots on goal. I am convinced: "The Yellow and Blues understood that the draw was not in our favor, but unfortunately, none of the players who came on as substitutes in the second half improved the game and our core players - Shaparenko, who missed a great chance to score in the opener, and Sudakov - did not play their best game. However, this is not a reason to be upset about the short bench - let's not forget that the coaches could not count on a number of injured players (Tsygankov, Yarmolenko, Zinchenko, Malinowski, Lunin...).

So what happens now? With two rounds to go, the Czech Republic leads the group with seven points. Georgia and Albania have six points each, and our national team, which closes the standings, has four. Let me remind you that only the first place will allow the national team to move up in class, and the last place will drop the team to League C.

In November, Ukraine has two away matches - first in Georgia and in the last round in Albania. Obviously, even three points may not be enough for our team to avoid the last place, although the chances of this happening are considerable. At the same time, two wins do not guarantee the Ukrainians first place, as they have already lost to the Czechs in head-to-head matches. The situation is very difficult, in which (if we talk about winning the group) not everything depends on us, but we still have hopes, and therefore we are looking forward to the November matches," Shakhov was quoted as saying by the Bankova Mail telegram channel.