Forward of the national team of Ukraine Roman Yaremchuk together with head coach of the team Serhiy Rebrov took part in a press conference ahead of the Nations League 2024/25 match against the team of Albania, which will take place tomorrow in Tirana.
Roman Yaremchuk— How do you assess the Albanian national team? Probably, we will be playing against them as the first number. How can we get through their defense, which didn’t go well for us in the first match?
— We are playing away, such matches are always different from home ones. Albania is quite a strong team. They have a good forward, a solid defense line, and a sense of discipline in defense. We also have enough qualified players who can decide the outcome of the match. We will focus on the fact that we need a win. Let’s hope that there will be goal-scoring opportunities to convert, and that this will positively affect us psychologically, helping each player relieve a bit of stress, feel confident, and show their best game.
— How well have you recovered after the match in Batumi on that difficult pitch?
— The pitch was the same for everyone. I don’t see any problems with that. The pitch stood up to bad weather; we are all professional footballers and we have to recover as quickly as possible after matches.
— In the recent matches, the Ukrainian national team has shown noticeable problems in attack, in particular, you haven't scored a single goal in the Nations League. You have good players in attack, but no goals. How do you explain this situation?
— Sometimes there are games when we don’t score, don’t create chances. But this doesn’t mean something is wrong with our attack. Especially now, when all the opponents' players know that we have a good team. When also Albania spends almost the entire match near their own box, it’s hard to find an opportunity to score. But I’m confident that our team has significant potential to score goals and achieve results. Of course, we want to show our best football, but such things happen.
— Do you feel pressure, as the Ukrainian national team risks being relegated from Division B? Also, at this stadium in Albania, there is always great support. How do you prepare psychologically for the game?
— Of course, we feel pressure, but it’s part of football. Every game is tense, especially when you play for big clubs, every time you fight for three points. Our players play in top championships, playing matches every weekend at the best stadiums in Europe. I don’t think this will be a problem for us. Of course, tomorrow the atmosphere in the stands may have an impact, but I hope our players will remain focused on the game.
