Ruslan Rotan: "The main factors for the victory on the Faroes were ball control reliability and effectiveness in the final stage"
Head coach of the Ukraine youth national team, Ruslan Rotan, commented on his team's victory over the Faroe Islands.
Photo by the press service of the UAF
In yesterday's Euro 2023 (U-21) qualifier match, the Ukrainian youth national team away from home defeated the Faroe Islands team (4:0). Coach of the blue-and-yellow team, Ruslan Rotan, shared his impressions of the victory.
"We expected a very difficult match because in this qualifying round, the Faroes have not lost at home yet. This is a strong team. I am pleased with our players' responsible approach to the game. They were highly motivated for the match, including due to what is happening in our country, and that they know how to play football, probably everyone knows already. I congratulate all of Ukraine on this victory, which we first and foremost dedicate to our soldiers who are defending our borders."
The main factors for the win, I think, were reliability in ball control, good exits from defense, and effective finishing, the latter of which particularly pleased me. Also, it was nice that we started shooting more often from distance.
Supryaga hasn't scored for almost two years now, so I calmed him down before the match. Told him that the main thing is not whether he scores — the main thing is that the team wins, including thanks to his qualities, if he leads a player, or enters the zone, or helps in pressing. The most important thing is that his KPIs are at a high level. He shouldn't feel like everyone expects him to score. I wanted to relieve some of the pressure on him. Very glad that he scored today and hope that he will continue to improve.
The substitution of Dydik immediately after halftime was related to the fact that he slipped a bit on the artificial turf, which is very injury-prone. Unfortunately, this covering has caused him quite an unpleasant injury.
Now our main task is recovery. We will spend the whole day traveling to Istanbul, and first of all we need to recover well because switching from artificial turf to natural grass is much harder than the other way around. So we'll pay maximum attention to this."
The Ukrainian U-21 team has three matches remaining in their group. The home games against North Macedonia and France will be played on June 5th and 9th at the Esenyurt Nedim Kadioglu Arena in Istanbul (capacity: 4,500 spectators). The first match starts at 8:45 PM local time (which matches Kyiv time). The kickoff against France is scheduled for 6:45 PM.
The game Armenia - Ukraine will take place on June 12th at the Yerevan Football Academy Stadium (kickoff at 11 AM Kyiv time).
Euro-2023 (U-21). Qualifying tournament. Group H
Faroe Islands - Ukraine - 0:4 (0:2)
Goals: Bondarenko (28), Supryaga (33), Vychcharenko (54), Sudakov (62).
Tournament table
Team |
M |
W |
D |
L |
P |
Points |
1. France |
7 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
22-1 |
19 |
2. Ukraine |
7 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
11-8 |
16 |
3. Serbia |
8 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
9-8 |
11 |
4. Faroe Islands |
9 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5-11 |
9 |
5. North Macedonia |
8 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
5-10 |
6 |
6. Armenia |
7 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
5-19 |
3 |
02.06.2022
France - Serbia
North Macedonia - Armenia
05.06.2022
Ukraine — North Macedonia
06.06.2022
Armenia — France
07.06.2022
Faroe Islands - Serbia
09.06.2022
Ukraine — France
12.06.2022
Armenia — Ukraine
Play-offs: September 20-27, 2022.
Final tournament: June/July 2023.
The tournament featuring sixteen national teams will be hosted by four stadiums in Romania (two in Cluj-Napoca and two in Bucharest) and four in Georgia (in Batumi, Poti, and two in Tbilisi). The opening match will take place in Romania, while the final will be held in Georgia.
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U-21: today Ukraine's youth national team will play a Euro 2023 qualifier on the Faroe Islands