Head coach of the Ukrainian national team Sergey Rebrov summarized the match of the 2nd round of the World Cup 2026 qualifying tournament against the national team of Azerbaijan (1:1), which took place today in Baku.
Sergey Rebrov— What didn’t work today?
— We didn’t manage to win, we didn’t create enough chances. Unfortunately, we only started to put pressure on the opponent’s penalty area in the last 15 minutes. We should have done this earlier. I understand that it’s difficult to play against an opponent who plays with five defenders, but still.
— Why couldn’t you snatch the victory?
— First of all, the field was very difficult for creating chances. Secondly, the Azerbaijani national team played completely differently compared to the previous match against Iceland: the team was very compact today and didn’t give us any space. But this is not an excuse: we should have pressured the opponent’s penalty area more and created more chances. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage..
— A question about the penalty. At first, the referee awarded a penalty against Azerbaijan, but canceled it after VAR. Then, again, after VAR, a penalty against us and a goal. Did this disrupt our game?
— The penalty against us certainly disrupted the game. But if a penalty is awarded in the third minute of the match, then I don’t think it would have changed anything in the game. It’s the referee’s decision, he used VAR; I cannot comment on that.
— Why did you refuse to play with two strikers?
— Iceland defeated Azerbaijan 5:0 also with one forward. Yesterday, Spain beat Turkey 6:0 also with one forward. I believe it’s not important how many forwards there are but what the functions of the players are. We tried to play with three attacking players today, but they didn’t always find themselves in the right place. So I don’t believe we played with just one forward.
— Do you agree that in a game like today’s, Ukraine lacked Yarmolenko?
— Two players were injured in Yarmolenko’s position. We didn’t expect this. Otherwise, I would have called Andrey.
— The choice of Kaluzhny in the starting lineup: we are playing as the first number, yet he fits different tasks...
— He doesn’t fit different tasks. If we are playing as the first number, it doesn’t mean we don’t need to defend. If you saw, today Ivan was creating balance. Because we needed to attack. The players who came on were focused on attack, while Ivan helped in defense, as there were a lot of long passes in the first half.
— With the score at 1:0, when we needed to score, Vanat leaves the field...
— Because he had an injury. The doctor said at halftime that Vanat had certain feelings, but he was ready to play. We weren’t exactly risking: we needed intensity. But if a player feels something, he surely won’t play at 100 percent.
— Do you understand that now in the remaining matches, we have no right to make mistakes?
— I understood this even before today’s match. But football is such a game: sometimes it’s very difficult to break through such a defense, especially on such a field. I told the guys that we need to think about the next match now, as we can’t afford to lose points.
— How do you feel about yourself now?
— How do I feel... Very upset that we didn’t win. And very upset that we didn’t create enough chances to win.
— What can you say to the fans?
— I wish them patience. We need to wait for the next match. I am sure we will do everything to win.
Text transcript — Dynamo.kiev.ua, when using the material a hyperlink is mandatory!
