Former Ukraine national team player Oleg Shelaev shared his impressions of the match of the final, 6th round of the group stage of the Nations League Albania – Ukraine (1:2).
Oleg Shelaev— It’s always nice to comment on a victory. But it didn’t come easily. Isn’t that right?
— A quick scored goal, and then a second, gave calm and confidence to our players. We built a good lead, and it became easier to play afterward. The task was to bring the match to a victorious end, and we managed to do that. The first half was more complex, dynamic, and cohesive, while in the second we played according to the score. At the start of the game, we tried to meet the opponent higher up, applying pressure in their half of the field, thus imposing our game. And it bore fruit. However, after the penalty, the game became tense, although towards the end we had chances to finally close the game.
— The Albanians made us nervous, and this happened after the break. Is this a result of their successful substitutions?
— After they narrowed the score, the goal added adrenaline and emotions for them. The hosts, having seized the initiative, felt they could push harder. From our side, the game became more careful and cautious; we were scared to lose the win, which is why there was nervousness.
— In the first match, where Albania won 2:1 against our team, they looked much stronger. It was a tough, uncompromising opponent, physically strong. And two months later — a completely different team, weak and spineless, especially in the first half. How can this be explained? Is it our team's merit?
— Probably, it’s about readiness at this moment. How the coach prepared the team for this crucial game, and many other factors. We thought to start slowly, lull them, and then somewhere score. But with an explosive game — and this relates to the first half — our national team disrupted all their plans.
— Rebrov guessed the lineup by starting Yaremchuk and Zinchenko, and their goals brought the victory.
— It was clear that Yaremchuk would start instead of Dovbik. But with Zinchenko — that was the coach’s intuition; he hasn’t played as a starter for a long time, is hungry for the game, and has more to prove. Alexander played at a decent level. Besides the scored goal, he played well and gave everything on the field.
— Rebrov’s risk to play attacking football from the start paid off. In the previous game against Georgia, we played defensively, resulting in a draw. Maybe we should have played against the Georgians like we did against Albania?
— Yesterday we achieved a hundred percent realization of the moments. Two shots on goal, and two goals. The national team built attacks more logically, using good passes between the lines to break through the opponent’s defense, and when we lost the ball, we pressed high, resulting in an advantage. The Georgians were more aggressive and sharper in duels, both in beating and in recovering the ball. So it was more difficult with them, and we chose such a tactic for the game.
The main thing is that we took second place in the group, and we will play in the playoffs. Stay tuned...
Sergey Shebek
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