Ukraine national team midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi commented on the 2026 World Cup qualification match against Iceland in Reykjavik (5:3).
Ruslan Malinovskyi. Photo: UAF«I don’t remember, but this is probably my first „Man of the Match“. I am happy first of all for the result, for the victory. It would have been unpleasant to end this match in a draw. We were winning, expended a lot of energy, all the guys fought for the result. So it is very nice that we won.
„Man of the Match“ is an individual award, and we play a team sport. I think that Vitalii Mykolenko played well, as did Vanat, Shaparenko, and Voloshyn, who made a great substitute appearance. The defenders did a lot of hard work. I can say this about every player in the defensive line.
Did I think about such a return to the national team? The year flew by very quickly, and it feels like nothing happened. I don’t want to look back. I want to play more, as I have lost a lot of time. I want to bring joy to people and show great football. This is the most important thing for me. Of my two goals against the Icelanders, I consider the second one to be the best. It turned out great...
The Icelandic fans just played the drums, while ours chanted and supported us. It was very nice. Thank you for coming and supporting us. Especially in such not hot weather. I hope they didn’t freeze, and we gave them good emotions,» said Ruslan Malinovskyi.
