The snowflakes that gently settled on the stadium lawn at "On Traugutta" seemed to remind everyone that Christmas and pre-holiday time was just around the corner. At such moments, surely every person involuntarily recalls unforgettable childhood emotions of anticipation for winter holidays.

Photos by Pavel Kubanov

On the other hand, it's good that the temperature, although minimal, is still positive, so the snow immediately melted. After all, cold hasn't gone anywhere, and thus only intense movement helped players from freezing. The coaching staff made efforts to ensure today’s work was full of dynamism.

Photos by Pavel Kubanov

After a run, the fitness trainer Vitaliy Kuliba proposed that the boys play tic-tac-toe on the lawn: teams competed against each other in speed of thought to form a winning diagonal with training cones. "On reaction" exercises were also carried out nearby under the supervision of Rustam Khudjamov.

After this, players performed specific tasks in game series format. As on previous days, most of today's training was dedicated to rehearsing tactical schemes for the match against Italians.

Photos by Pavel Kubanov

Only three days remain until the decisive showdown. Tomorrow morning, blue-and-yellow will have fitness training at their hotel: today's wet and sticky field training was sufficient physical exertion for players.

After lunch, Ukrainians will head to a local airfield from where they will take off for Leverkusen.

National Team of Ukraine Roster

Goalkeepers: Georgiy Bushchan («Dynamo» Kyiv), Anatoliy Trubin («Benfica» Lisbon, Portugal), Dmytro Ryndzak («Shakhtar» Donetsk).

Defenders: Mykola Matviyenko, Yurym Konoplyanka, Valeriy Bondar (all — «Shakhtar» Donetsk), Oleksandr Tymchyk, Vladyslav Dubynchak (both — «Dynamo» Kyiv), Vitaliy Mykolenko («Everton» Liverpool, England), Illia Zabarny («Bournemouth», England), Oleksandr Svatok (SK «Dnipro-1» Dnipropetrovsk), Maksym Taloviyev (LASK Linz, Austria).

Midfielders: Taras Stepanenko, Oleksandr Zubkov, Georgiy Sudakov, Yegor Nazarina (all — «Shakhtar» Donetsk), Oleksandr Karavaev («Dynamo» Kyiv), Oleksandr Zinchenko («Arsenal» London, England), Viktor Tsygankov («Girona», Spain), Mykhaylo Mudryk («Chelsea» London, England), Serhiy Sydorchuk («Waasland-Beveren», Belgium), Ruslan Malinovskyi («Genoa» Genoa, Italy), Oleksandr Pichalok (SK «Dnipro-1» Dnipropetrovsk).

Forwards: Artem Dovbyk («Girona», Spain), Roman Yaremchuk («Valencia», Spain), Danylo Sikan («Shakhtar» Donetsk).

Reserve List: Dmytro Popov, Vitaliy Buyalskyi, Vladyslav Vanat (all — «Dynamo» Kyiv), Nazariy Rusyn («Sunderland», England).

Oleksandr Hlyvinskyi, press secretary of the national team of Ukraine