However, money is not a guarantee of success, as in most spheres of human activity. In terms of football, this means that the team with the most expensive players will not necessarily be the winner, and the last thesis in the current League of Nations draw is clearly demonstrated by the Ukrainian national team under the leadership of Serhiy Rebrov.
Let’s move from words to action and simply compare some numbers – indicators are always subjective to a certain degree, however, they are still much more fair and suitable for analytical reasoning than just evaluative statements of experts, journalists or fans.
Turning to the authoritative Transfermarkt portal, which specializes, among other things, in displaying the estimated values of professional football players, it is possible to find that, as of now, the national team of Ukraine occupies the 18th place in world football in terms of the total value of all players of the first team. The experts of the portal estimate the Blue and Yellows in full equipment at 325.2 million euros, and under the jurisdiction of UEFA there are only twelve teams that have a more expensive team: Denmark (331 million euros), Turkey (331.7 million euros), Belgium (334.5 million euros), Sweden (350.5 million euros), Norway (365.45 million euros), Italy (658.5 million euros), Netherlands (769 million euros), Spain (781 million euros), Germany (782 million euros), Portugal (792 million euros), England (996 million euros) and France (1.01 billion euros).
As we can see, there is not a single rival of the Ukrainian national team in Group B1 of the League of Nations, and if anyone has forgotten the Czech Republic, Georgia or Albania, there are no higher “blue-yellow” in the ranking of the most valuable national football teams in the world. Moreover, our competitors occupy very modest positions, significantly losing to the Ukrainians. For example, the national team of Georgia is only in 35th place, having the opportunity to boast of the total estimated value of its players at the level of 178.1 million euros. The Czech Republic occupies the 47th position (120.7 million euros), and our closest rival, the national team of Albania, is only 52nd (89.95 million euros), losing in the “financial rating” even to the team of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (91, 05 million euros).
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Artem Dovbyk is one of the most expensive players of the Ukrainian national team The five most expensive players of the Ukrainian national team on Transfermarkt include: Oleksandr Zinchenko, Artem Dovbyk and Georgy Sudakov (estimated value of each of them is 35 million euros), as well as Ilya Zabarny (32 million euros) and Mykhailo Mudryk (30 million euros). Four of them, with the exception of Sudakov, play in Europe’s top leagues, three (Zinchenko, Zabarny and Mudryk) play in the English Premier League, which many consider the strongest national football championship as of today.
For comparison: the most valuable football player of the Georgian national team right now is the winger of “Napoli” Khvych Kvaratskhelia, who is estimated by experts to be worth 80 million euros. He is followed by the goalkeeper of “Valencia” Giorgi Mamardashvili (45 million euros) and the forward of “Lyon” Georges Mykautadze (20 million euros), but further – a complete failure, since the Georgians do not have anyone who would be valued at more than 5 million euros!
The Chekhovs have a similar situation with the Albanians, where there are also only a couple of stars of the first magnitude (according to local standards – exactly), and behind them – “gray mass”. In the Czech Republic, the most valuable football player is West Ham defender Tomasz Soucek (30 million euros), and Hoffenheim forward Adam Glozek, whose contract is valued at 18 million euros, also stands out in terms of the financial aspect. The rest of the players of the Czech team are not worth more than 8 million each. In Albania, the most valuable player is the defender of “Inter” Kristian Aslana (18 million euros), after whom the winger of “Besiktas” Ernest Mucha stands out (12 million euros), and further – there is not a single football player who would be more expensive than 6 million euros.
Undoubtedly, Transfermarkt ratings are a very relative thing, but most football players do not pay attention to this, just remember the numerous reactions of various performers to their ratings in the game simulator EA Sports FC 25, and earlier – in the FIFA line of games that preceded it.
Therefore, there is no doubt that the players know who and how much they rate on Transfermarkt. And, of course, the greater your potential value, the more pleasant and prestigious it is for each performer. Even for many expert assessments of this kind, financial evaluation indicators are one of the factors to call this or that team a favorite.
It is not surprising that before the beginning of the competitive process in group B1 of the League of Nations, it was the Ukrainian national team that was called the main contender for the first place, with an overall fairly balanced selection of quartet participants. But in fact, the “blue-yellow” proved that money does not play football, they do not go to the field, and they are not able to ensure the result on the scoreboard. In particular, our national team lost to Albania (1:2) and the Czech Republic (2:3), drew against the same Czechs (1:1) and Georgians (1:1) and beat the latter in a nominal home match only minimally (1: 0). That is why, before the final round, Sergei Rebrov’s wards are in last place and must hope for a miracle so as not to be completely embarrassed and relegated to Division C of the League of Nations.
Of course, for the results in the League of Nations-2024/25, the Ukrainian national team has already received decent attention from fans, journalists and experts. Criticism of the “blue-yellow” is both justified and absolutely deafening, on the verge of insults, and sometimes crosses it, which does not honor those who stoop to such a thing. But – and this is important for the football players and the coaching staff to understand – praising this team, even when you really want to, is banal for nothing. After all, big money, be it personal contracts or the estimated cost of a transfer, is not only a kind of pleasure, but also a colossal responsibility, since it must always be met and under any conditions. If today someone who is valued and earns less has passed you by, then tomorrow there is a chance that he will be in your place, receiving the full range of life’s pleasures and joys, and leaving you only with memories of the “good old days” and the “warm bath” effect “, which they gave. Does this suit the players of the current squad of the Ukrainian national team?
Source: sport.ua