Former Ukraine national team goalkeeper Ilya Blyznyuk assessed the performance of the «yellow-blues» against Iceland in the last qualifying match for the 2026 World Cup, which ended with our team’s 2—0 victory.
Ilya Blyznyuk— A long-awaited victory that everyone was waiting for! A nerve-wracking game until the last minute. Do you agree?
— Yes, it was a tough game. Both teams imposed a lot of battles on each other, and a single mistake could have determined the match’s fate. Thank God we have a player like Trubin, who corrected the partners' mistake at a critical moment. In the first moment of the second half, he saved an unpleasant strike from an opponent, who headed the ball under the crossbar. His experience suggested to him to stand on his feet, and due to this, he blocked the shot. And in the 77th minute, he performed a miracle when the standard was lost, I note — not for the first time, it seemed the ball was already in the net, but once again Trubin came to the rescue. A key moment in the match that later determined the match’s outcome. I’m confident that if Ukraine conceded, psychologically they would have broken immediately and would not have been able to pull off the match. The Icelanders received the response when you don’t score, they’ll score against you.
— What qualities of the national team’s game determined success?
— Enormous dedication, determination to win from the first minutes, aggression, pressing, and good physical condition, which allowed us to maintain the pace at the end of the game, where we had to play through 'can’t do it.' Eight players came out in the starting lineup who did not participate in the match against France. So, Rebrov calculated everything correctly, sacrificing the team’s prestige to achieve the main goal. He understood that Iceland is a strong, organized team, and the freshness of the players could decide a lot. And so it happened. Our team had enough strength on the finish line to make a breakthrough in the last ten minutes and squeeze the opponent, scoring two goals.
— It’s worth noting that the substitutions were successful: the entry of Shaparenko and Yaremchuk, and a little later — Hutsulyak.
— It was noticeable that from the middle of the second half, the Icelanders began to sag a little. And the entry of Shaparenko, Yaremchuk, and Hutsulyak gave a fresh impetus to the game. For the first goal, it was Hutsulyak who headed the ball to the far post, after which Zubkov finished off the standard. And in the second episode, Shaparenko’s tackle allowed for an interception in the center, then Kalyuzhny poked to Hutsulyak, a shot, a deflection, and we’re in the playoffs. The situation demanded releasing players for attack because we needed to score. The same Yaremchuk had a great chance to score, but now the Icelandic goalkeeper was on top, parrying two strikes in a row.
— The very high-quality play of wingers Zubkov and Tsygankov led to victory. Do you agree?
— Yes, thanks to these two players, with fast-paced flank runs, the opponent’s defense was shaken. Towards the end, even at 0—0, the Icelanders switched to playing with five defenders, possibly to hold a draw. Both Tsygankov and Zubkov are good at one-on-one play, which is effective against a dense defense. Their creative actions achieved success. The whole team’s merit is in the victory! The lads fought till the end, gave all their strength, which, by the way, the opponent lacked, which played a decisive role. But I’ll repeat and highlight Trubin once again. He pulled off the game and brought the team to the playoff round.
Sergiy Shebek
