Well-known former Kyiv Dynamo striker Artem Milevskyi commented on Ukraine’s victory over Iceland (2:0) in yesterday’s World Cup 2026 qualifying match, which granted the Blue and Yellows a place in the qualification playoffs.
— Artem, how was the match for you?
— I’m overwhelmed with emotions, I’m very happy. Rebrov’s tactic with the second lineup against France proved itself. Compared to the Iceland team, our players were much fresher. Congratulations to our team for the victory. I also guessed the starting lineup and the result before the game, so soon they’ll be calling me Vanga. (Laughs).
I saw that at the match in Warsaw during our difficult times, Zheka Seleznyov, Valeriy Fedorchuk, and Artem Fedetskyi were present. How can we not win with such supporters? (Laughs).
May they always travel to Europe and cheer for us, if the Ukrainian team wins with them around. And we, as simple mortals, cheered for our team in a Kyiv pub, we don’t travel to Warsaw. (Laughs).
— What helped us win?
— As I said, Iceland would tire in the second half after a long flight from Azerbaijan. And that’s exactly what happened. The main thing is that we took advantage of it. The guys prepared for the match and achieved a positive result.
— To whom would you give the 'Lion of the Match'?
— I want to congratulate Sanya Zubkov on the goal and our joker Hutsulyak, but I’d give the 'Lion of the Match' to Trubin for that save. He pulled off an incredible save! Tolya is just awesome. It was a very tough game. And if it weren’t for his save, it would have been difficult for us to achieve a positive result with the score at 0:1. But, as the famous song goes: 'Any questions? No questions!'.
— Who do you want to see as Ukraine’s opponent in the playoff match? We might draw Sweden, Romania, Northern Ireland, or North Macedonia, which is still in question?
— I want us to settle scores with the Romanians for Euro. Moreover, they’re coached by Lucescu, so it will be interesting. In any case, we need to win against every team if we want to play in the World Cup. Hugs to all, congratulations on the victory. There’s more to come.
Andriy Piskun