Former defender of “Shakhtar” Sergiy Yashchenko shared his impressions about yesterday’s confident victory of the youth national team of Ukraine over the Finns (2:0) in the group stage of the U-21 European Championship in Slovakia.
Sergiy Yashchenko— The appearance in the starting lineup of Mykhavko, Yarmolyuk, and Veletny made the game of the Ukrainians more balanced and tactically attractive. And the advantage in speed, higher individual skill allowed them to skillfully break free from pressing and carry out quick counterattacks. The Ukrainians also acted effectively in the transitional phase, as thanks to precise interceptions they complicated life for the opponent, who sometimes simply didn’t know what to do on the football field. And if our players hadn’t had breakdowns with the last pass, it could have easily led to a rout, as there were still about half a dozen game episodes that could have resulted in goals against the Finns. Therefore, there is still work to be done on execution.
Lastly about our captain — Brazhko. It was quite an achievement to accumulate a second yellow card and be sent off in stoppage time, in a non-goal situation with a comfortable score of 2:0. But Volodymyr managed to do it, and now the Ukrainian national team will have to play the crucial match against the Dutch without their leader, — said the expert.
