The Ukrainian national team has arrived in Tšebnice near Wrocław, where they will prepare for the Euro 2024 qualification matches against England (September 9) and Italy (September 12).

As almost always since the start of the full-scale invasion, the blue-and-yellow team began their journey from the central railway station in Kyiv. Here representatives of the administrative-medical staff gathered along with three Dynamo Kyiv players — Oleksandr Karavaev, Georgiy Bushchan, and Oleksandr Tymchik. The Kyivans had only returned from a European Cup trip to Istanbul the day before, so they had a bit more time for family reunions. For the boys, this is a real breath of fresh air, as their busy schedule kept them away from wives and children for an entire month. War makes international match logistics extremely complicated: Georgiy Bushchan shared information about the longest travel distance covered by Dynamo players during this year's European Cup travels, which lasted 23 hours!

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

This time it was not as long but still a chain of events. The train to Przemyśl took 11 hours, followed by an hour at passport control upon arrival and another hour by bus to the airport in Jarosław, from where they were scheduled to fly to Wrocław at around 11 local time. By the way, at the airport six players from Shakhtar Donetsk were already waiting for them; they had arrived in Jarosław the day before via microbus after a match against Minay in Uzhhorod. In the miners' sextet was debutant Yegor Nazarina, inspired by the call-up to the national team.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

“To come to the national team is a dream for every footballer, so being in the squad is a great honor and pride for me! I always believed that I would get called up, so I will do everything within my power to make use of this opportunity,” Yegor confidently said in his first interview with the team.

The flight from Jarosław to Wrocław took 45 minutes, another half hour was spent traveling to the hotel in Tšebnice, a suburb of Wrocław. Thus, it adds up to 18 hours instead of 23. But under current circumstances, arriving at an international camp directly from Kyiv is simply impossible.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

However, the most important thing for the players was to reach their final destination where they will stay for a whole week. The hotel already had six Dynamo players who arrived earlier on a flight from Warsaw: Andriy Yarmolenko, Serhiy Sydorchuk, Vitaliy Buyalskiy, Mykola Shaparenko, Danylo Popov, and Vladyslav Vanat. After lunch the newly signed player of Portuguese Benfica Anatoliy Trubin joined them.

In the evening Roman Yaremchuk, Vitaliy Mykolenko, Illia Zabarnyi, and Mykhaylo Mudryk will arrive at the team's accommodation. Andriy Lunin, Viktor Tsygankov, Artem Dovbik, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Bohdan Mikhaylichenko will join the squad tomorrow, September 4. The last to arrive will be Serhiy Kryvtsov whose Inter Miami plays in MLS on Monday at 5 AM Kyiv time.

But already tonight head coach Serhiy Rebrov along with his assistants will conduct the first training session. Training will start at 17:45 local time at a football center of a local club.

Ukraine National Team Squad

Goalkeepers: Georgiy Bushchan («Dynamo» Kyiv), Anatoliy Trubin («Benfica» Lisbon, Portugal), Andriy Lunin («Real Madrid», Spain).

Defenders: Mykola Matviyenko, Yurym Konoplyan (both — «Shakhtar» Donetsk), Danylo Popov, Oleksandr Tymchik (both — «Dynamo» Kyiv), Vitaliy Mykolenko («Everton», Liverpool, England), Illia Zabarnyi («Bournemouth», England), Serhiy Kryvtsov («Inter Miami», USA), Bohdan Mikhaylichenko («Dynamo» Zagreb, Croatia).

Midfielders: Andriy Yarmolenko, Serhiy Sydorchuk, Vitaliy Buyalskiy, Mykola Shaparenko, Oleksandr Karavaev (all — «Dynamo» Kyiv), Taras Stepanenko, Oleksandr Zubkov, Georgiy Sudakov, Yegor Nazarina (all — «Shakhtar» Donetsk), Oleksandr Zinchenko («Arsenal», London, England), Viktor Tsygankov («Girona», Spain), Mykhaylo Mudryk («Chelsea», London, England).

Forwards: Roman Yaremchuk («Valencia», Spain), Artem Dovbik («Girona», Spain), Vladyslav Vanat («Dynamo» Kyiv).

Reserve List: Oleksandr Svatok, Oleksandr Pykhalyonok (both — «Dnipro-1», Dnipropetrovsk), Arseniy Batagov («Zorya» Luhansk), Danylo Sykan («Shakhtar» Donetsk).

Oleksandr Hlyvinets, press secretary of the Ukrainian national team