Famous Ukrainian TV commentator Igor Tsyganik shared his prediction for the return match of the Ukrainian national team against the Belgian national team in the Nations League playoff for the right to compete in Division “A” of this tournament next season.
Igor Tsyganik“The Ukrainian national team played fantastically in the first match against Belgium, winning it in a determined style with a score of 3:1. Now we have a serious advantage before the return match, which will take place in Genk. However, we must not underestimate our opponent in any way.
The Belgians have a very good attack and a strong midfield. If De Bruyne recovers, and if Lukaku is fit for this match, then, in my opinion, Belgium will have scoring opportunities as they need to make up the difference. We played brilliantly in the second half of the first match, and if we continue to play in the same style in Belgium, we have every chance to achieve the necessary result and break into Division “A” of the Nations League.
As we all remember, in such matches, Ukrainians find it quite difficult to play the second games. The main thing now will be not to concede, to protect our goal, and to look for chances in counterattacks. I don’t know what strategy Sergey Stanislavovich Rebrov will choose, but it is quite possible that he may decide to play with three central defenders. One match: close all holes in defense and hope for our attacking group, where someone will be able to find a chance to score against the Belgians. This will probably be our main strategy for the return match.
If we talk about my expectations for the match result, I predict a draw. It’s not entirely clear what the Belgians can do to create very big problems for the Ukrainian defense. At the same time, I understand that our team will not rush things on the football field. That is, a draw, possibly a high-scoring one, makes sense — that’s my prediction for this match,” said Tsyganik.
