Oleksandr Svatok: "The result wasn't the top priority in the match against Germany"

05.06.2024 13:00

Photo by UAF press service

On June 3rd, the Ukrainian national team played a friendly match against Germany in Nuremberg, which ended in a 0:0 draw. Defender Oleksandr Svatok shared his thoughts on the game.

"My impressions are positive, as we played an away match against the German national team. They are a very strong team with many top-level players. We defended quite well and responded with counterattacks. There were moments when we controlled the ball for several minutes. This game will benefit us.

Before the match, the coaching staff told us that the main thing was to go out on the зшеср and give our best. We had to implement what we had practiced in those three or four days. The result was not the top priority. However, whenever you play for the national team, you want to win, whether it’s an official match or not. The guys gave their all, a hundred percent, well done!

Andriy Yarmolenko is already teasing me, joking that I only play for the national team against top teams when it’s tough. He says I'm building my career by not playing against weaker teams. In today's match, we could feel the atmosphere of the upcoming Euros. In Ukraine, we sometimes play a match for five hours without spectators, so it was important to see a full stadium," said Oleksandr Svatok.

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).

Recall that the next friendly match for the Ukrainian team will be played in Warsaw against Poland on June 7. The match will kick off at 21:45 Kyiv time.