Oleksandr Zinchenko: "European Championship is a major tournament where we need to showcase our best play"

31.05.2024 13:00

Midfielder of the Ukrainian national team, Oleksandr Zinchenko, spoke about the start of the team's preparation for the European Championship.

The blue-yellows have begun preparing for EURO 2024 and have already conducted their first training session in Germany. The day before, the midfielder of the Ukrainian national team Oleksandr Zinchenko shared his thoughts.

"I came to the UNITED24 summit because the initiative has turned two years old, and I saw many people. Of course, I miss Ukraine a lot. Every time I come here, I have special emotions. I am very happy to travel together with the team from Kyiv. When I walked around the station, I told the guys that I was last here 11 years ago. It's nice to go back to those times, it's nostalgia.

At the station, I met with the ambassador of Euro 2024, Arne Friedrich, and congratulated him on his birthday. I also expressed my respect for him for coming from another country to Ukraine in such a difficult time for us and on such a significant day for him.

We all understand that the European Championship is a major tournament where we need to showcase our best play. Through such tournaments, we can give a lot of emotions to our fans, and our military, who defend our country. We need to prepare for the competition with great responsibility, I think with the help of friendly matches, we will succeed," said Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Ukraine national team roster:

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

Defenders: Mykola Matviyenko, Yukhym Konoplya, Valeriy Bondar (all Shakhtar Donetsk), Oleksandr Tymchyk (Dynamo Kyiv), Vitaliy Mykolenko (Everton, England), Illia Zabarnyi (Bournemouth, England), Oleksandr Svatok (SK Dnipro-1), Maksym Talovierov (LASK, Austria), Bohdan Mykhaylichenko (Polissya Zhytomyr).

Midfielders: Andriy Yarmolenko, Mykola Shaparenko, Volodymyr Brazhko (all Dynamo Kyiv), Taras Stepanenko, Oleksandr Zubkov, Georgiy Sudakov (all Shakhtar Donetsk), Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal, England), Viktor Tsygankov (Girona, Spain), Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea, England), Serhiy Sydorchuk (Westerlo, Belgium), Ruslan Malinovskyi (Genoa, Italy).

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

Reserve list: Dmytro Riznyk, Danylo Sikan (both Shakhtar Donetsk), Denys Popov, Vitaliy Buyalskyi, Vladyslav Kabaiev (all Dynamo Kyiv), Yehor Yarmolyuk (Brentford, England).

On June 3, the team will play a friendly match against the hosts of EURO 2024 in Nuremberg, Germany. Kick-off is at 21:45 Kyiv time.

The next day, the team will fly to Warsaw, Poland. In the capital of the neighboring country, Ukraine will play its next preparatory and friendly match against Poland on June 7. Kick-off is at 21:45 Kyiv time.

The final match before the pre-tournament camp will be against the Moldovan national team on June 11 in Chisinau, Moldova. Kick-off is at 19:00 Kyiv time.

On June 12, the national team will arrive at their permanent base for EURO 2024 in Wiesbaden.

Group E Match Schedule for EURO 2024

June 17: Romania vs Ukraine. Arena Munich, Munich. Kick-off: 16:00 Kyiv time.

June 17: Belgium vs Slovakia. Frankfurt Stadium, Frankfurt. Kick-off: 19:00 Kyiv time.

June 21: Slovakia vs Ukraine. Dusseldorf Arena, Dusseldorf. Kick-off: 16:00 Kyiv time.

June 22: Belgium vs Romania. Cologne Stadium, Cologne. Kick-off: 22:00 Kyiv time.

June 26: Slovakia vs Romania. Frankfurt Stadium, Frankfurt. Kick-off: 19:00 Kyiv time.

June 26: Ukraine vs Belgium. Stuttgart Arena, Stuttgart. Kick-off: 19:00 Kyiv time.

Kick-off times are in Kyiv time.

Oleksandr Hlyvynskyi, press secretary of the Ukrainian national team