The head coach of the Ukrainian national team, Serhiy Rebrov, commented on the draw in the match against England (1:1) in the qualification for Euro-2024.

— How will the team prepare for the game against Italy? Will you be able to play at the same level or even better?

— We'll see. Now recovery is very important, players have already started it. The next match is just as important for us as this one.

— Did your plan work out completely? Could you achieve more with such a game?

— We had a certain plan, but England ruined it. We were supposed to attack more, but it was very difficult to come out of defense. However, football — is about the result. Yes, England dominated possession, but how many chances did they create? I think we defended very well today and thanked the boys for that. Before the match, I said that it's very important to enjoy playing in defense. They did that today.

— Would you like to play the next matches in Poland, especially in Wroclaw, considering today's atmosphere?

— Yes, I think today there was a very good atmosphere. Our «12th player» helped the players a lot, fans added motivation to them. When you play against such an opponent — it's very important to have support. I believe we had great support in Poland.

— How do you evaluate the game of Mykhailo Mudryk and Roman Yaremchuk? Are you satisfied with the team's performance in attack?

— I don't separate players. Today there were no better footballers — the whole team worked on defense. As I already said, the plan was different, we tried to attack but England forced us to defend. Today it was such a game, tomorrow will be another.

— Why did you decide to substitute Mykola Matvienko in the break?

— Unfortunately, he has an injury, but it's not new. I can only thank him for coming out on the field and helping the team.

— How important is it for Ukraine to compete in such a tournament at this difficult time for the country? How important is it generally to play under such an atmosphere?

— Unfortunately, we have to play matches abroad. Players understand the importance of everything, we talk a lot about the war in Ukraine. It's important to give our people positive emotions that they need. This game helped us, we are very happy. When you see such an atmosphere, you understand for whom you're playing.

— Today the team spent a lot of energy, it was very hot. How difficult will it be to prepare for Italy?

— Yes, it was very hot. But if you compare with previous games, for example, against Malta — then it was much hotter. To play two days in a row against such strong opponents is extremely difficult. So recovery is very important, players need to understand that.