The team was eliminated in the 1/8 finals, losing 0:1 to the Spanish national team.
– Mr. Dmytro, how would you summarize the performance of the Ukrainian national team at the World Cup?
– I think that the team deserves a solid top four for its results in Chile. The first thing we pay attention to is the quality of the game, and it was not bad. There was also a good result in the group stage. In this part of the tournament, only two teams performed better (Japan and Argentina scored nine points each). Unfortunately, fate decided that in the 1/8th we had to meet Spain – the best team in Europe and one of the best in the world. But again, I thanked my wards, who tried not just to play, but to show meaningful football at this tournament.
– Which match was the most difficult for you?
– Of course, against Spain. It is very difficult to oppose the Spaniards, given the individual skill of the performers. However, we wanted to create more problems for the opponent at his goal. In my opinion, our guys were a little rushed in this, and there was a noticeable nervousness. We adapted to the pace of the game and the speed of working with the ball in the 15th minute and, in principle, did not allow the opponent to create many scoring opportunities, except for the end of the match, when the adventure on our part went.
– Our national team made 48 shots at this tournament, and only 13 of them hit the target…
– The first three games, in the group round, we hit the plane at a normal level. In the last match, against Spain, indeed, out of nine shots, only one hit the frame, and that spoiled the statistics somewhere. But four fights isn’t really a big stat sheet. In the match against Spain, I associate such an indicator with the excitement of the players.
– All fights from bell to bell were conducted by Vladyslav Krapyvtsov, Maksym Melnychenko and Oleksiy Gusev. Are these the people you had the least complaints about?
– It’s not that there were no complaints against them, although they played at a high level. It’s just that the application for the World Cup consists of 18 football players, and not all positions were replaced. They could be rested, but they were key performers in their respective positions.
– In the attack, you bet on Pyshtur. Why not on Ponomarenko?
– The difference was in physical condition. Due to the fact that he had a little more playing time in the fall, Pyshtur was, in our opinion, in a better playing tone. But we warned both of them that the guys will be replacing each other because the games are two days into the third and it’s not so easy to recover. And in general, this is the problem of the national team: not so many performers had stable game practice.
– Are there any guys who pleasantly surprised you during the competition?
– I cannot single out one or two football players. During the entire tournament, there was a great atmosphere in the team. Although it surprised me a little, since not everyone knew each other before. And this cohesion was transferred to the field. Every player performed at their best. The potential of this team was much greater than for the round after which we ended the competition. Again, if fate had been more kind to us, we could have even reached the final.
– Of course, one in the field is not a warrior, but Sinchuk’s disqualification caused a stir. Can you explain how it actually happened?
– I received information about Synchuk an hour before the game against Spain. My head was busy with completely different things than solving this issue. Already in Ukraine, in a calm environment, we will find out how it happened.
Source: sport.ua