The next "window" in the international football calendar will be filled by the Ukrainian national team’s participation in a tournament in Canada, where they will compete against the hosts and New Zealanders on June 7 and 10. Former Ukrainian national team player Yuriy Virt shared his expectations from the matches overseas in a conversation with a correspondent from Sport.ua:
Yuriy Virt— I have always been an advocate of the rule: if you are invited, you should go. In this case, the long flight should not be intimidating: in Toronto, Sergey Rebrov’s players arrived early, and they will have time for adaptation.
— Do you think that the participants of the tournament will not act with maximum effort, considering that most have had a difficult season behind them?
— No, because performing for your country is a great honor, and no one will hold back. I am convinced that the tournament will be a fascinating competition and beneficial. In particular, for the Ukrainian national team, this will be one of the stages of preparation for the autumn qualification for the World Cup. Secondly, the competition in Toronto will take place in a stadium that will host matches for the finals next year, so our guys will have a wonderful opportunity to feel the atmosphere of the upcoming football celebration. And this is also valuable experience that will definitely come in handy.
— For various reasons, the Ukrainian national team will play in Toronto not with its strongest lineup.
— Nothing terrible, the coach Sergey Rebrov will have the opportunity to experiment. However,
I am convinced that the footballers representing Ukraine in Toronto will be eager to win the main prize. Moreover, they will be well-supported: there is a large Ukrainian diaspora in Canada.
— Finally, who else could have been included in the Ukrainian delegation for the performance in Toronto?
— I would advise Rebrov to pay attention to the goalkeeper of "Alexandria" Georgiy Yermakovo, midfielder of "Karpaty" Amvrosiy Chachua, and forward Yegor Tverdokhlib ("Kryvbas"). They were prominent in the UPL, and it would have been good to give them a chance to show themselves in the national team.
Andriy Pysarenko
