Former forward of Kyiv "Dynamo" Viktor Leonenko commented on the defeat of the Ukrainian national team in the second match of the Nations League playoff against Belgium.
Viktor Leonenko
— Viktor Yevhenovych, what do you say about the match? The result, as they say, is on the scoreboard, but the game itself raised a lot of questions.
— Well, who is right now? Our team played behind the ball line, only there is a nuance — in our penalty area. There were no moments, there is not much to say. I better remain silent.
— Why did the Ukrainian national team play so cowardly? Even with five defenders, you can counterattack and press effectively, but we had neither.
— We always play like this; they just don’t want to hear and understand me! Now we have a 0:3 result. You can be offended at me, I don’t mind. But you cannot cancel the football law!
Rebrov forgot the football rule in the second match: if you play for a draw, you will always lose. The football law punished him for cowardice.
— After the first match, you said that Ukraine would get past this Belgium, but it didn't happen.
— When you choose such a tactic for the match, you show that your end is near. It is not even about tactics, but about the game. We do not create moments; they come to us by chance. Belgium didn't show anything, but we still messed up, and the opponent became bold.
Rebrov did everything for us to lose and not go further. From the first minutes, we gave the initiative to Belgium; we didn’t even counterattack and showed that we don’t know how to do anything.
Rebrov has great assistants. Did you see a lot of Spanish in our tactics yesterday? We had a selection day!
— By the way, Khatskevich said in an interview with our colleagues: "It's a pity that Rebrov doesn't have football people in his staff who can give advice."
— He said everything correctly. Good for him! I would also add: it's a pity that in our football, for some reason, Spaniards run everything, but not Xavi or Iniesta — but those who have won nothing in their careers.
— What do you say about the conceded goals?
— What is there to say! We had nine players in the penalty area standing like in a theater, watching the Belgians score. They defended as a crowd, and no one was accountable for anything.
— Sudakov played again as a left midfielder, although in the first match it was clear that he felt insecure there.
— He is no good in any position right now. Rebrov probably wants to show that he has all players who are universals. They don’t draw conclusions at all! Well, it is obvious that a person cannot do anything!
— Fans chose Lunin as the "Man of the Match". Do you agree?
— About "men of the match" in such a game, don’t even ask me. I would call Rebrov the "Anti-Man of the Match" with his very "brave" tactics. Now, fans, I hope you understand what our national team is. Did you see brave footballers in our team yesterday and stars that they appointed themselves? How many of such "stars" will you give?
— Rebrov said in a post-match interview that he considers the Nations League more of a friendly tournament. Do you agree with this opinion?
— When the score became 0:3, Rebrov already started thinking about what to say after the match and just blurted it out. If it's a friendly tournament, why did you set the "bus" by your penalty area from the first minutes?
— The Ukrainian national team hasn't been lucky yet. Our last opponent in the World Cup qualifying was France, which, after 0:2 in Croatia, won at home with the same score and advanced on penalties. It would have been much easier with the "checkered ones," don't you agree?
— "Mbappenko" in the match against Ukraine will improve his scoring statistics if he is healthy. Our footballers and coaching staff should be glad that France got here. The excuse is already ready: "They're almost world champions!" And if they play well, then Rebrov will again be great. A win-win option.
Andriy Piskun
