The first captain of the independent Ukraine national team, Yuriy Shelepnytskyi, shared what helped Unai Melgos’s charges defeat the Finns (2:0) in the group stage of the European Under-21 Championship in Slovakia.
— After an unfortunate setback at the start against the Danes, it was desirable for the Ukrainian team to avoid losing points in the clash with the next opponent — the Finns. It was felt that our guys studied the opponent well, who tried to act in an English style. First and foremost, the Ukrainians not only demonstrated resilience in battle but also made every effort to deprive the opponent of even the conditions to realize their plans. In particular, thanks to reliable support, they closed the flanks from the Finns, who were unable to make targeted passes for attacks at a second pace or play ahead. But the main thing was the dominance in ball control with an interesting search for free space between the lines.
The only thing that I didn’t like yesterday was the weak conversion. After all, our boys could have calmly, as they say, closed the match before the break. I hope this victory will give confidence to the Ukrainians, which will come in handy in the decisive battle with the Dutch, where the owner of the ticket to the next round will be determined,” said Shelepnytskyi.