The head coach of the Ukraine national team, Serhiy Rebrov, held a regular pre-match press conference a day before the playoff return match of the Nations League against Belgium for the right to compete in Division “A” of this tournament next season.
Serhiy Rebrov. Photo — UAF— Will Dovbyk be able to play? And the second question: is it in Ukraine’s power to stun the Belgium national team again?
— Regarding Artem: yes, he will train with the main group today. Yesterday he had an individual training session, and as far as I can see, everything will be fine.
As for the second question, I always have normal communication with the players, and I cannot say that after the first game with Belgium something has changed. I am confident that everyone is in a working mood, everyone understands that it was the first half, and everyone is very serious and ready for tomorrow.
I believe that in the first match we played very disciplined, but unfortunately not as aggressively as we would have liked. However, I am convinced that it is very difficult to play at a high pace for 90 minutes. We added in the second half and achieved a result. Once again: tomorrow will be a completely different game. Therefore, we are preparing for a more aggressive opponent who will play at home and will be very motivated.
— How do you assess the debut of Yegor Yarmolyuk for the Ukraine national team in the first match against Belgium?
— I am satisfied with all the players. I congratulated Yegor on a really good match. He debuted for the national team and I believe he did what he needed to do. He played simply, made no mistakes. He understands this position, where he played in the last game, but we sometimes change positions, and I think this player is already ready to be competitive in our national team, as he showed in the last game.
— At the post-match press conference after the first match with Belgium, you were asked about calling up the right-back again, to which you said that it is impossible to make documents for leaving Ukraine. However, now Ilya Krupskiy is abroad with the youth national team of Ukraine. Was there even a consideration of his urgent transfer to the national team?
— Yes, such an option was considered. I like this player, but I believe he has not played a single match at the national team level. There are players who have played in this position.
For example, Bohdan Mykhailichenko. He played for “Anderlecht” in this position, he played for “Polissia”. Sasha Zinchenko played quite well in this position in the first match against Belgium. So there are options, and it was not necessary to urgently call up a player now.
Once again, I say: I would have been very happy if we had won 3:1 against the Belgium national team in the qualifying cycle, but this is a playoff game for a place in Division “A”. I will tell the players: “These games are very important for our people, for our fighters, so they really get positive emotions, but this is not a game for qualifying for the World Cup.” This is a very important game for us, and I believe that these players, who are with us now, are preparing, and I am sure that tomorrow they will come out and show their maximum.
For playing football, we always thank the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And it is very nice that we have the opportunity to play in Europe, we have the opportunity to thank all our partners who help a lot. Including Belgium. I remember when we played at Euro-2024 against Belgium, and when the anthem of Ukraine was played, how all the Belgian fans applauded. It was indeed a very emotional moment. The same, I am sure, will happen tomorrow. Belgian fans support their national team, but they treat Ukraine with respect. Therefore, I consider it very important that Ukraine plays in Europe and, as I see it, plays at a high level and was represented at Euro-2024.
