— You are joining the national team for the first time not from Kyiv's "Dynamo," but from Belgium's "Westerlo." How have you adapted to your new club?

— Not yet, because it hasn't been much time. The first week was difficult overall as I had to adapt to everything. Everything was new. It was very hard on a personal level since the first two weeks I lived alone until my family arrived and things got much better. As for joining the national team from "Westerlo," it's somewhat unusual because I came from one club for 10 years, and now it’s different. But these meetings with the guys are very valuable. We haven't seen each other in a month, so I missed them, especially my teammates from "Dynamo."

— The national team is currently holding every training session in a new location. How do you like the conditions of this current gathering?

 — Normal. There's an interesting stadium in Prague. Overall, the conditions are good, and the training field is in excellent condition. However, it suddenly got quite cold, but that’s weather. It happens.

— Did you have any conversation with Serhiy Rebrov about your readiness for the match?

— No, there was no personal talk. I think it will happen during training sessions. Communication with Rebrov always exists. Both on a personal and professional level. Right now, he's looking at players' fitness levels, and closer to the match, there might be some individual talks.

— How would you evaluate the results and play of the national team in the last two matches — against England and Italy?

— It's hard to give an adequate assessment when you're still in the process. I won't be evaluating anyone individually, that’s the coaches' job. As for the team play, I think we performed decently. The match against Italy was very tough. Italy recently changed their main coach, and this became a positive psychological moment for them. Plus, an unfortunate start to the game — such unnecessary goals... Despite this, there was more positivity than negativity in these encounters for me.

— Ahead are matches against North Macedonia and Malta. Is it absolutely necessary to take six points from them?

— Absolutely, of course. But we need to remember how we played against them earlier in the summer. It was very tough because I can't name any national team that can't play modern football now. Everyone has caught up, and this isn’t the same qualification cycle it could have been six or eight years ago. Every year it gets harder and harder. More information about football, tactics, training processes is available. And players from smaller countries are learning by example across Europe. They see how to progress. 

As for North Macedonia specifically, everyone remembers how we started the first half against them in our last match. It was very tough. The same goes for Malta. If you don't score a quick goal, if you don’t score in the first half, it gets harder and harder to play as time passes. But we need these points. We generally need nine points if we want to talk about qualifying for Euro 2024.

— Were you surprised by North Macedonia's performance in that first half?

— I think they were a bit surprised themselves. They had some fear of Ukraine. But when they scored those goals, it became clear that with every action, they grew more confident. They didn't come onto the field as confident as they became over time in that match.  

— You have three goals for the Ukrainian national team, one of which is against North Macedonia. Do you remember that goal and your emotions?

— I remember it very well. We played at "Arena Lviv," which was my first match in the starting lineup. I don't recall specifics, but someone said life isn’t measured by years lived but by happy memories. That game is one of them for me. How did I score? The ball bounced off Andriy Yarmolenko, and I was right near the goalpost in the penalty area, so close that I couldn’t miss. I was very happy because it turned out to be a winning goal.

— Back then "Arena Lviv" was packed, and we really missed that atmosphere. Do you feel the support at our home matches now?

— The last such match in Wroclaw against England felt like a home game for me. There were many of our supporters there. It's nice to play in such an atmosphere. This match reminded me of games at "Arena Lviv" or the "Olympic." I hope it’s the same in Prague.

— For the next two matches, we've lost Viktor Tsygankov and Andriy Yarmolenko to injury. How big a loss is this, and how can it be compensated?

— It's a very serious loss. Andriy is the captain of the team, while Viktor has been playing at an extremely high level for the last year. I don't want to compare them with anyone or predict who might play in their place. I'll just say this — it’s a big loss.

We remind you that the Euro 2024 qualifier match between Ukraine and North Macedonia will take place on October 14th in Prague (kickoff at 3 PM Kyiv time).