The national team of Ukraine will continue its journey in the fourth season of the League of Nations with a game against the national team of Albania.

Albania – Ukraine

Tuesday, November 19, 9:45 p.m. “Albania Stadium” (Tirana). The referee is João Pinheiro (Portugal). Live broadcast on MEGOGO

Let’s start by recording: the national team of Ukraine is teetering on the edge of the loudest failure in many years.

Relegation to the third division of the Nations League means relegation to where San Marino, Estonia and other representatives of the deepest football periphery will play. Let me remind you that the League of Nations was once created with the motivation “so that national teams like ours do not waste time on games with San Marino.”

And all this – with the best generation in many years. I understand that against the background of such results of the national team it sounds like an anecdote, but Arsenal, Real, Roma, Bournemouth, Everton chose players based on dozens of games – and they got, for the most part, great performers who brought a lot of benefits. Yes, according to Chelsea, there are doubts in this regard – but Mudryk just plays well.

Questions about a coaching staff that manages such material so inefficiently. Serhiy Rebrov was met as a messiah, but he also said during his numerous interviews in clubs that his main principle is daily work with players. There is no question about this in the national team, and Serhiy Stanislavovich has already accumulated too many failures to think about retirement.

In my opinion, he is still kept in office by the “statehood” of his position. Everyone at the top is simply not up to seriously dealing with the issues of the Ukrainian national team: the players sing the national anthem – it’s already good. And, of course, any resignation is an appointment. There are big doubts that the conditional Sharan will have the same authority among the players and will put the football better. One could think about the legionnaires, but there is no question here. Undoubtedly, Ukraine does not have the resources to interest a cool foreigner, and if a foreigner does come, he will not work, but will receive easy money.

Behind enemy lines

In the Albanian national team, meanwhile, Silvinho feels more and more confident. The winner of two Brazilian championships, two Champions Leagues and three Spanish championships (much of this, of course, in reserve status – but against Manchester United in Rome he came out and played excellently) was able to restart his coaching career. First of all, he started his career as a manager very late (at the age of 45 – before that he worked as an assistant), and secondly, he started with Lyon, which then probably no one would have pulled out.

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A professional substitute who spent almost 10 years in this capacity at Arsenal, Barcelona and Manchester City, Silvinho also uses his skills as a coach. There are no stars in the Albanian national team, but five players play in Serie A, one in La Liga – and out of them he has forged a very disciplined team that does a great job of restricting opponents.

I think that if it weren’t for the already fantastic selection of opponents (Spain, Italy and Croatia) in the group, Albania could show itself at the Euros. There we had to settle for one point, heroically won with the Croats – and, of course, even the second team of the Roha Fury was able to defeat the Albanians in class. But when the opponents became a little easier, it turned out that they were not able to do anything with the Albanian bunker. In the last two matches, Silvinho’s team scored only one goal, but did not concede a single time.

Albania is good at punishing mistakes. If someone associated our loss to this team in the first round exclusively with our problems, then the draw with the Croats showed that the Balkans are also capable of a lot. The team of stars played weakly in front of their goal – and no Guardiola could save them from problems.

Personnel decides everything

Argument number zero, which must be remembered from the very beginning: in the modern format of the League of Nations, the recovery factor becomes key. Two days of rest between games, if necessary flights are loads close to extreme, and it should not be surprising if any of the coaches leave even the undisputed leader of the team in reserve. It’s just that the tests before the game can show that the player is not ready, and no one will risk his health, release him to cause an injury in the 10th minute.

After deducting this factor, I am very interested in the state of Roman Yaremchuk. He has been in the team for a long time on a special account: his career in the clubs may not work out as much as he likes, but he plays well for the national team. Taking into account all the introductions, it can be called an “anti-dovbyk”. But Yaremchuk plays so little, even for Olympiakos, that it is frightening. Probably, this forward is not for Mendililibar with his crazy pressing, he did not choose the best team…

Another question concerns the right defender. Sich was called to the national team not because of a good life: the struggle between Tymchyk and Karavaev for every minute in Dynamo is also not because of a good life, but rather because of the weaknesses of both. Yes, there is Konoplya, but he was tired and did not have time in the second part of the game with Georgia. And yes, I would definitely not expect revolutionary changes in the composition. Two days of break between games, and two away games – this is barely enough to change the place of deployment, sleep and recover. Not before tactical revolutions.

Words, words, words

Serhii Rebrov, head coach of the Ukrainian national team:

Now Vanat is recovering, let’s see if he can play tomorrow. He came to the national team with the desire to play. We didn’t realize how much time he would miss with the injury. He wants and is ready to play for our country. We still have 24 hours, we hope he will be ready to play.

Matches with the Albanian national team in 1998? I remember every match for the national team, but, unfortunately, I don’t remember these goals. Now the national team of Albania has changed a lot. A lot of players from Serie A, the top championships. It is difficult to compare these matches and what class the Albanian national team is currently showing. She got to the European Championship, where she performed well.

We have a very young team, which was the youngest at Euro 2024. Now she is even younger than before. Young players who are seen as leaders are not stable. For football players who want to be leaders, it is important to show a stable game in the club and national team. We have a good team now, with a good balance of young and experienced performers. In my opinion, this team has a good future.

SiBGNinyohead coach of the national team Albanii:

If we compare the situation with what was three months ago, then this is the most equal group. Almost anything can happen before the final matches. If we talk about the previous match between Georgia and Ukraine, I saw it. It was a tough game [шанси були] 50 for 50. They are [українці] drew, and this speaks in favor of the fact that this game pa is very even.

Each of the teams played at Euro-2024, has good players and coaches. Of course, we expect to win, because we will play with the support of the home stands. But, of course, we respect Ukraine, they have a good, tough team. We need to play one of our best matches as we still have a chance to even win the group. This is our goal for today.

Roman Yaremchuk, forward national team of Ukraine:

Sometimes there are games when we don’t score, we don’t create chances. But this does not mean that there is something wrong with our attack. Especially now, when all the opponents’ players know that we have a good team. When Albania itself spends almost the entire match near its own penalty area, it is difficult to find opportunities to score.

I am sure that our team has a lot of potential to score goals and get results. Of course we want to play our best football, but it happens.

Of course we feel the pressure, but that’s part of football. Every game is intense, especially when you play for big clubs, every time you fight for three points. Our football players play in top championships, hold matches every weekend at the best stadiums in Europe. I don’t think it will be a problem for us. Of course, the atmosphere in the stands tomorrow may have an effect, but hopefully we will remain focused on the game.

Estimated compositions

Albania: Strakosha — Mitai, Ayeti, Ismaili, Balyu — Ramadani, Asllani, Lachi — Bayrami, Asani, Tutsi

Ukraine: Trubin — Konoplia, Zabarny, Matvienko, Mykolenko — Sudakov, Brazhko, Shaparenko — Zubkov, Dovbyk, Mudryk

prediction 0:0