The head coach of the Belgian national team, Rudi Garcia, spoke about what he expects from his team’s return match against the Ukrainian national team in the Nations League playoff for the right to compete in Division “A” of this tournament, which will take place today in Genk. Recall that the first meeting of the rivals ended with a victory for the Ukrainian national team with a score of 3:1.
Rudi Garcia“We should base our game on the first half of the first match with Ukraine, which was very good. We controlled the game and created several goal-scoring opportunities. And we rightly took the lead. Unfortunately, after the break, we often focused too much on the current score on the scoreboard and played deep back. After equalizing, Ukraine caught us off guard, and we didn’t react to it. That’s why I expect a reaction from my team, from each player in the return match.
We must learn from the first meeting. We had a 12-minute “blackout” during which we lacked confidence both individually and as a team. It is my responsibility to restore the players' confidence because the return match will be something like a final, a high-stakes game in a casino.
We will take the field with a desire to win the second match by at least two goals. Achieving this will be easier if we can keep our goal intact. We are in a situation where we must show the true value of the team and prove that Belgium is still a great team.
I like the Genk stadium; I was here for the semi-final of the Belgian Cup. We can change the situation with the help of the fans. But it depends on us to make sure they support the team from the very beginning of the match.
Right now, our team is in a rebuilding process. We have newcomers. But the role of leaders, like De Bruyne and Lukaku, is certainly very important. These are guys who are used to playing at this level, in big matches — such as the upcoming match against Ukraine because we need to come back considering the two-goal deficit. The guys know what I expect from them. Yes, we had very little time to prepare for these matches, but the players must show that we are all on the same wavelength,” said Garcia at the pre-match press conference.
