Former Ukrainian national team midfielder Yevhen Konoplyanka, whose words are quoted by the Telegram channel “Vzbirna” with reference to “Trendets”, recalled the 2014 World Cup qualification play-off matches against the French national team.
Yevhen Konoplyanka— That match with France, when you lost 0:3, did you get over it for a long time?
— This was the hardest blow of my entire career, really.
— Why did it happen that way?
— They were strong. You understand, someone had to get eliminated or lose.
— Just a contrast, two different teams in a few days.
— Yes! I don’t want to say: there someone was to blame, someone else, something else... The freshness was lacking — that’s the first thing. They changed their lineup more than we did. It was necessary to put two defensive midfielders, at least, because we needed to play to maintain, and we would counterattack from the flanks. But we did it the opposite way — we slightly exposed that zone. If we had adjusted all these minimal moments. And let’s remember what kind of lineup they had, well, they had an incredible lineup!
— But you weren’t afraid of anything, no matter which team.
— We weren’t afraid, but the stands roared like that, someone slipped, someone got a red card, the field was so slippery. All these moments played such a role, and we slightly «sank».
