Vitaliy Mykolenko: "Luckily, it's just a severe bruise with no ligament damage"

16.06.2024 13:30

Yesterday, the Ukrainian national team held a training session on their home field in Taunusstein, Germany, focusing on preparing their game plan against Romania.

Ukrainian defender Vitaliy Mykolenko, who sustained an injury in the friendly match against Moldova (4:0), is also with the team but is training according to a personalized program. He shared an update on his condition with the UAF press service.

"I am feeling better — I can walk to the dining hall, which is the most important thing for me right now. Seriously though, I have already started working out in the gym twice a day. I hope to return to the field soon.

I don't remember having an injury like this before. You could say I got lucky because there's no ligament damage, just a severe bruise. Recovery will take some time. For now, the doctors aren't giving any forecasts. It all depends on how my body responds. We keep the head coach updated on my condition daily. I am making progress and want to get back on the field. In any case, I will travel with the team to Munich.

I already feel like the Euro has begun. We are already at our base, and I even saw our fans at the open training session. It feels good — our matches are just around the corner.

When I got injured, it was psychologically tough. Recovering and working hard to get to this Euro, only to get injured again, is difficult. But then, when I saw the MRI results, I realized I was still in the game. Now, I am giving my all every day, and we will see what happens next.

We all watched the opening match of the European Championship. The Germans, you could say, dominated the Scots, although I was rooting for Scotland because my team has a player from there (Nathan Patterson — Ed.). He is also injured and didn’t go to the Euro. I told him it would be a draw or Scotland would win, but I realized I didn’t understand football. The Scots didn’t even have a shot on target," said Vitaliy Mykolenko.

Ukraine squad for EURO 2024

Goalkeepers: 1. Georgiy Bushchan (Dynamo Kyiv), 12. Anatoliy Trubin (Benfica, Portugal), 23. Andriy Lunin (Real Madrid, Spain).

Defenders: 22. Mykola Matviyenko, 2. Yukhym Konoplia, 21. Valeriy Bondar (all Shakhtar Donetsk), 24. Oleksandr Tymchyk (Dynamo Kyiv), 16. Vitaliy Mykolenko (Everton, England), 13. Illia Zabarnyi (Bournemouth, England), 3. Oleksandr Svatok (FC Dnipro-1 Dnipro), 4. Maksym Talovierov (LASK Linz, Austria), 26. Bohdan Mykhaylichenko (Polissya Zhytomyr).

Midfielders: 7. Andriy Yarmolenko, 19. Mykola Shaparenko, 18. Volodymyr Brazhko (all Dynamo Kyiv), 6. Taras Stepanenko, 20. Oleksandr Zubkov, 14. Georgiy Sudakov (all Shakhtar Donetsk), 17. Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal, England), 15. Viktor Tsygankov (Girona, Spain), 10. Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea, England), 5. Serhiy Sydorchuk (Westerlo, Belgium), 8. Ruslan Malinovskyi (Genoa, Italy).

Forwards: 11. Artem Dovbyk (Girona, Spain), 9. Roman Yaremchuk (Valencia, Spain), 25. Vladyslav Vanat (Dynamo Kyiv).

The final game before the training camp will be against Moldova on June 11 in Chisinau. The match will kick off at 19:00 Kyiv time.

The next day, June 12, the team will arrive at their Euro 2024 base in 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.