The former goalkeeper of "Dynamo", Volodymyr Tsytkin, who later worked with various age groups of the Ukrainian national team, explained why the team under Serhiy Rebrov failed to celebrate victory in the World Cup 2026 qualifying match against Azerbaijan, which ended in a draw (1:1).
Volodymyr Tsytkin— You know, a considerable amount of time has passed since the match in Baku ended, and I still don’t understand how our guys managed not to beat such a weak team as Azerbaijan. During the match, it seemed that the hosts, although they were highly motivated, would have been satisfied even with a minimal loss.
— Perhaps the Azerbaijanis surprised the guests with some tactical setups?
— That’s out of the question. Everyone knew that the hosts would play defensively, focusing their forces near their penalty area. Under such circumstances, it was crucial to show activity on the flanks, but that was precisely what was lacking. Take the left flank, for example, where Georgiy Sudakov was again responsible.
Since this is not his favored position, it is not surprising that he was drawn closer to the middle zone like a magnet. It seems that the coaching staff accounted for this, and Sudakov was often supported by Artem Bondarenko and Oleksandr Zinchenko; however, they lacked the mutual understanding needed, and threats to the hosts’ possession were not realized.
— If the flanks were "silent," perhaps it was worth focusing on finding the shortest route to the Azerbaijan goal with through passes?
— That’s a valid observation, but it’s all easy in words. Often, the guests in midfield had to engage in tedious shuffling because they simply didn’t know how to "unlock" the dense defense.
— Then why didn’t the teammates look for Vanat with long passes?
— That’s a question for the coaching staff, but difficulties arose here too, as Vanat rarely managed to find open spaces in the defense. Overall, if anyone among us disappointed the most, it was Vanat. It remains a mystery to me why, in a game episode at the start of the match, he didn’t fight to the end but fell as if swept away when he felt an opponent’s hand on his shoulder. Yes, there was contact; such violations are penalized with a penalty in the UPL, but internationally, that’s not always the case.
Perhaps this fall in the penalty area knocked Vladislav off his game; however, he was hardly noticeable afterwards. The worst part is that even against the backdrop of the slow-moving Azerbaijanis, the Ukrainian national team did not appear speedy. It’s hard to create threats against a well-organized opponent while running slowly. Serhiy Rebrov needs to draw conclusions.
It reminds me of a time when the famous footballer Felix Magath, who later successfully coached the German Hamburg, after a disappointing game from his players scheduled practice for six in the morning the next day. When everyone gathered in the center of the field, he uttered not a single word for 90 minutes, surrounded by his silent players. After that, the analysis of the game boiled down to two phrases: "This is how you stood the whole match yesterday. I hope it won’t happen again."
I think Rebrov should take a page from his German colleague’s book and explain to his players in such an original way how not to play.
— Finally, how do you assess the chances of the Ukrainian national team to take second place in their group?
— The situation is not critical, but it is complicated. To compensate for the unexpected loss of points in Baku, it is necessary to show a better result than the Icelanders in head-to-head battles. This will be difficult, as the Icelanders made a strong impression in matches against Azerbaijan and France. It’s enough to say that in Paris, they played from a position of strength, pressed skillfully, and if it weren’t for a controversial penalty, they might not have lost to the "star-studded" hosts. All one can do is cheer for Iceland, where they manage to find talented footballers despite having a small population.
By the way, our "trump card" could be the return of several injured players to the lineup before the match against Iceland, which will intensify the competition for places in the starting lineup. That is always beneficial.
Andriy Pysarenko
