The former defender of Kyiv’s Dynamo and the Ukrainian national team shared his impressions of what he saw in yesterday’s World Cup 2026 qualifying match Azerbaijan — Ukraine (1:1).
— Share your general impressions. What is happening with the Ukrainian national team right now?
— I can’t say. It feels like there is no united team. I don’t know what is happening with them. I don’t know if they communicate with each other. There is no team energy, and that’s why it turned out this way.
— There are a huge number of people online demanding the resignation of Rebrov after the match with Azerbaijan. What is your opinion on this?
— Look, people can say anything online. That’s the life of a coach. Earlier, it was only written in newspapers, but now everyone can log in and write something.
I believe the team needs to find a team impulse right now. If we manage to do that, we can continue to show good football. In general, there is a lot of pressure on the national team, that we must take first place. We need to unite the team now.
— And do you think this impulse should come from the coach or should the team leaders among the players also get involved?
— When I played, it was only the coach. Not the president, but the coach and coaching staff. Although we had the legendary president Andriy Shevchenko.
And among the players — who is our leader now? I don’t know. You can look at statistical data, but who is the leader on the field? I don’t know. We need to know if they communicate with each other.
We need to find this football impulse. What it looks like, how to find it — it’s hard. It can be one person, or it can be three people. I’m not talking about leaders — a leader appears when they are ready. On the football field, you need to have 2−3 leaders to win the game.