– What were you thinking when you looked at the standings of our group before the final match, in which the Ukrainian national team was satisfied only with victory?
– If you think objectively, it was difficult to imagine that someone could overtake the French national team at the distance. But for the second place in the group, we were favorites, in my opinion. Of course, I would like to calmly take second place, without any nerves.
However, we all understand the difficult situation our country and our football are in. As for the opponent, the Icelandic national team is a worthy opponent. Overall, I expected to see an even match. We made life difficult for ourselves by losing two points in Baku. The Icelanders were satisfied with the draw in Warsaw and they were already choosing tactics for this meeting based on their capabilities.
– One of the topics discussed before this game was Serhiy Rebrov’s decision to field a sub-optimal lineup for the match in Paris against France. Did our coaching staff do everything right, not throwing all their best efforts into such a prestigious match?
– I will say that only the head coach sees in the training process who looks like today. You can conduct certain tests in order to understand which of the guys is in the best physical shape. For this, a strategy is planned for one or another match.
Let’s be honest – even in the combat team we couldn’t confidently say that we can win in Paris. Here, like in a casino, you can bet on red or black. As we later saw, Serhii Rebrov did everything right by giving rest to some performers. Moreover, we know very well how the players of Dynamo and Shakhtar get tired, winding hundreds of kilometers after each game. Logistics during the war is simply terrible.
In the final match of Group D, the national team of Ukraine beat the national team of Iceland with a score of 2:0, which allowed the team to take second place in the tournament table and advance to the playoffs, which will take place at the end of March 2026.
Source: sport.ua