Taras Stepanenko: "We are glad we gave Serhiy Rebrov a result for his birthday, not a tie"

05.06.2024 15:10

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. Midfielder Taras Stepanenko shared his thoughts on the game.

"It was a tough match since we were up against a very strong team. They controlled the ball and created chances. We played on the counterattack and had a few good opportunities ourselves. I think we held our ground and defended well. A draw against such a team is a good result, especially since it was our head coach's birthday. We are glad we could give him a result, not just a tie.

Currently, Germany is a more organized and disciplined team than they were a year ago. When we played them back then, they had open spaces we could exploit. Now, it's much harder to counterattack against them because they cover the spaces and play attentively. We had a few counterattacks, but they were sharp. It's safe to say Germany has become stronger over the past year.

The first 20 minutes of both the first and second halves were particularly tough for us. They were playing at home in front of their fans, pressing hard. The crowd pushed them, and they were eager to score an early goal. It's good that we held on. All the guys defended well, helped each other, and covered the spaces. It's a good result for us," said Taras Stepanenko.

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 Ukraine will play the next preparatory and friendly match against Poland on June 7. The game will start at 21:45 Kyiv time.

The final game before the pre-tournament training camp will be a match against the national team of Moldova on June 11 in Chisinau. The game will start at 19:00 Kyiv time.

The next day, June 12, the national team will arrive at the venue for the Euro 2024 base camp – the town of 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.