On Sunday, March 23, the Ukrainian national team lost 0:3 away to Belgium in the return match of the Nations League playoff for the 2024/25 season, and based on the aggregate score of two matches (3:1, 0:3), failed to advance to Division “A” of this tournament. Here is the post-match press conference of the head coach of the Ukrainian national team Sergey Rebrov.
Sergey Rebrov— Do you not consider it a mistake to so seriously change your team’s starting lineup compared to the first match against Belgium?
— I do not believe that it was the wrong decision. Judge by the game we played, and I was guided by the players’ condition. Many were tired. For example, Tsygankov could not start because he simply wasn’t in condition to play 90 minutes. That’s why we made such changes to the lineup.
I believe that we played decently in the first half. Yes, we were in a low block, did not go out on the attack, but the Belgium team created nothing at our gates.
Therefore, I do not consider the decision on the starting lineup to be wrong. Today the Belgium team was completely different compared to the first match. They pressed, increased their speed. And Doku, who started from the first minutes today, did a lot for his team in attack.
— Why was it not anticipated that the Belgium team would play in a different style today? Why could your team not create anything?
— Because we were under pressure. There was no directive that we should not play forward, should not attack. On the contrary, we told the guys that we should use the experience of the second half of the first match against Belgium, when we really carried out good attacks and scored three goals. But as I said, today the opponent did not give us chances to carry out such quick attacks.
At halftime, I told the guys that we cannot defend for 90 minutes. It was important to go on the attack. But we were under pressure. And we simply did not have opportunities.
— What is Mykolenko's condition?
Unfortunately, he has an injury. We will conduct examinations and see. I know Vitaliy well: if he could not continue the game, then it means it is indeed a serious injury.
— Do we even need to advance to Division “A”? Maybe it’s better to stay in Division “B” and build up the team there?
— As I have already said, now any match for the Ukrainian national team is of great importance for our fans and players. I am sure that our footballers were not thinking about Division “A” or Division “B” — they were just trying to play to the maximum.
Yes, to me, the Nations League is more of a friendly tournament, but to lose like this... I agree, everyone is upset now. Through these two matches, we planned to prepare for the qualifying cycle for the 2026 World Cup, which will be very tough for us. But our goal is to qualify for the World Cup. Yes, everyone is upset now, but we need to work and prepare for the qualifying matches.
Alexander POPOV
