Serhiy Rebrov: "The boys have no strength left even to celebrate, as they gave everything on the pitch"

21.06.2024 19:19

Head coach of the national team of Ukraine Serhiy Rebrov gave his comment following the EURO 2024 match against Slovakia (2:1).

"I am very happy for the players. I can't say we played very poorly against Romania. We lacked in certain important components, but I can't say it was a different team. Today we showed a different spirit and earned the victory. We earned three points, now we need to focus on the next game, but this was a very important win for our country, for our fighters, for our fans. I am sure today they are proud of the footballers.

"We play matches every three days, recovery plays a very important role. It's difficult to change positions, to understand who should enter the starting lineup. But I am grateful to all the players who took the pitch today, they deserved this victory. Now it's important to recover for the next match.

"Mykola Shaparenko had a rough first half? UEFA recognized him as the best player of the match, he scored a goal and worked for the team. Indeed, in the first half, Shaparenko didn't score, but then we were more on the defensive. After the break, we made conclusions, and slightly changed the defensive game model. That's why in the second half we had a lot more chances.

"Mykhailo Mudryk played his second match in a row. He is a very fast player. Even in the first match, he had problems towards the end. With the score at 2:1, we needed fresh players who would defend, so I made the substitution. I am grateful to Mykhailo because he gave everything on the pitch.

"At halftime, I didn't shout at the players. Of course, we made certain mistakes with the conceded goal. We needed to react in the second half. Unfortunately, we didn't press high enough. We understood that this was our chance. I told my players not to worry about the score and to go forward, to show their maximum. I am glad they did it.

"As for the goalkeeper position, I am satisfied that we have good competition. Anatoliy Trubin also deserved to play against Romania, but I chose Andriy Lunin, and I am satisfied with this choice, no matter what happened. Usually, teams have one main goalkeeper. But Trubin deserved to play today due to his performance in the friendly match against Germany. He showed that he was very calm, and he saved us. Lunin played the last game, today Trubin started, but they both fight, train hard, and deserve to play.

"Georgiy Sudakov's game? As you saw, today there was the youngest team at Euro on the pitch. Many players of our national team have a good future. But, of course, young guys are not always stable, they can't show top level in every match. Sudakov gave us a lot of energy on the pitch in both matches, he understands football well. He worked a lot and helped the team. He can cover several positions, which is very important.

"This European Championship is the first for many of our players. Although, of course, there is Andriy Yarmolenko, who is playing his fourth tournament. As I said, we have a very young team. They haven't played at such a level with a filled stadium, which is mentally difficult. We lost the last match, but we had to focus on the next one and show a different level and spirit. I can't say that in the match against Romania, the players didn't understand where they were and who they represented. But this is football. So it was important that today we played a different game and deserved three points.

"It was a very emotional game. I went into the dressing room and saw that the boys didn't even have the strength to celebrate because they gave everything on the pitch. Today, perhaps, they will celebrate a little, but tomorrow we already need to prepare for Belgium.

"As for tactics, we fought for three points. Unfortunately, today in the first half we didn't press very well. We planned to create more chances, to send more balls into the penalty area. We scored the second goal thanks to a forward pass. Euro is a fast-paced tournament, so you have to react quickly. I think we reacted well after the first game. We created more chances because we showed more desire to create them. So it's not just ball possession that matters — I don't know what it was today. Football is about the score, about how many chances you create," said Sergiy Rebrov.

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).

EURO 2024 Group E: Schedule and Results

June 17: Romania vs Ukraine - 3:0

June 17: Belgium vs Slovakia - 0:1

June 26: Slovakia vs Ukraine - 1:2

Standings

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.