Former football player and head coach of Epicenter Serhiy Nagornyak commented on the performance of midfielder Ivan Kalyuzhnyi in the Ukrainian national team in the League of Nations.
"If we abstract from the first two matches, in which we had two defeats, we played well. We defeated Georgia and drew with the Czech Republic. In October, I think the result was positive. There were debutants in the Ukrainian national team. The same Kalyuzhny! He made the whole of Ukraine fall in love with him in one game. And strategically, of course, we had to beat the Czechs because we are fighting for some places. It is clear that there was a lot of psychological pressure. But athletes have to cope with it. I think Ukraine played well in the October matches. Four points is a good result. But, unfortunately, it was not even enough to move up from the last place.
As for his performance, he won the fight at key moments. He made rebounds and interceptions. But the most important thing is that we liked Kalyuzhny! Everyone saw his eyes and how he wanted to play! Everyone saw that the Ukrainian national team had a newcomer with glowing eyes! Ivan showed his work and his desire. Not every player is compared to Gattuso after his debut game for the national team. And this is written by fans of the Ukrainian national team. And you can't fool the fans! Everyone saw, and the whole country saw, with what desire and passion the guy came to the game. To be honest, I was surprised that he did not appear in the starting lineup in the match against the Czech Republic. Some say that he would not have had enough emotions. I think he would have had enough.
Kalyuzhnyi is good in the fight for the ball. He would have to add a little speed and, in general, he would have an even higher level. But against the Georgian technical team, he managed to work in defense, do some rough work, make tackles and interceptions. Most importantly, he intercepted the ball at key moments and won the fight. Yes, he is like Gattuso. Kalyuzhny is the same in style. However, Kalyuzhny also has a crazy shot. Remember the goal he scored against Shakhtar! I think it will be difficult to keep Ivan in Oleksandriya after these matches for the Ukrainian national team," Nagornyak said.