Former midfielder of Kyiv "Dynamo" and the USSR national team Ivan Yaremchuk shared his impressions of the return match between the national teams of Belgium and Ukraine (3:0) in the Nations League playoff for the right to compete in Division "A" of this tournament.
Ivan Yaremchuk. Photo — Footboom.com“A two-goal lead after the first game (Ukraine - Belgium - 3:1, - ed.) filled me with optimism, but what I saw literally shocked me. I was ashamed to watch our national team's performance. The best of the best footballers in our country played defensively for two halves, testing the nerves of the fans.
I expected to see lions bravely opposing the Belgians, but I saw frightened hares...
In my time, I also had to play at the international level against favorites on their own field. But even if something didn't go according to plan, we understood the importance of cherishing the ball, disrupting attacks in midfield, and not allowing the opponents to approach our goal, building counterplays. I don’t know what the coach's instructions were, but it’s obvious that our plans didn’t work.
After the final whistle, I felt complete emptiness and caught myself thinking: “how good it is that they don’t know me in Belgium.” I was just burning with shame,” - said Ivan Yaremchuk.
