Ukraine Olympic team players reflect on match against Iraq

25.07.2024 14:00

On July 24, the Ukraine Olympic team played their first match of the group stage in the football tournament of the 2024 Games, losing 1:2 to Iraq.

Players from our team, Valentyn Rubchynskyi, Maksym Khlan, and Illia Krupskyi, shared their impressions of the tournament's opening match.

"It was very pleasing to score a historic goal for our team. I'm glad that I was the one to achieve this. Of course, I wanted to win more than to score that goal. But we couldn't secure the victory in the end.

The coach told us that we still have two games ahead. We will try our best. It will be tough, and the opponents will be even stronger. We will fight until the end because that's all we have left," said Valentyn Rubchynskyi.

Photo by Vitaliy Kliuiev

"There are games where luck is needed. Difficult matches require patience and waiting for the right moments. Sometimes the referee intervenes unnecessarily, like with the absurd penalty... We need to understand that this had a psychological impact. I believe it was an unqualified decision and hard to accept. Our game fell apart after that. We did everything we could and tried to attack, but luck wasn't on our side. We need to focus on the next game, push away negative thoughts, and move forward.

We saw what happened in the Argentina vs. Morocco match. The refereeing decisions at the Olympics are very questionable. Especially in our case, where there was no foul, just minimal contact. This is a contact sport, such a touch is acceptable. So, it was an incorrect decision against us.

Twelve added minutes? Yes, we saw this at the World Cup. Maybe they are experimenting again. It was in our favor, but we didn't take advantage of the added minutes. But still, there were many wrong decisions by the referee, which we couldn't influence," said Maksym Khlan.

"We played well but made a few crucial mistakes. Of course, there are no excuses because the result was not justified by our play. But we have two more matches, two finals. We forget this game, it's already in the past. We don't lose heart, there's no point in talking a lot. We need to go out and deliver results," noted Illia Krupskyi.

Official Roster of Ukraine's Olympic Football Team for the 2024 Games

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders

Forwards

The list includes 22 players, with four reserved spots.

According to the regulations, players born after January 1, 2001, are eligible to participate. Additionally, each team can include three players who are older than this age.

Olympics 2024: Men's Football Tournament Group B

July 24, 2024

Argentina - Morocco - 1:2

Iraq - Ukraine - 2:1

Standings

July 27, 2024

Argentina vs Iraq (16:00, Lyon)

Ukraine vs Morocco (18:00, Saint-Étienne)

July 30, 2024

Ukraine vs Argentina (18:00, Lyon)

Morocco vs Iraq (18:00, Nice)

All match times are in Kyiv time.

The two top teams from Group B advance to face representatives from Group A.

2024 Olympics. Men's Football Tournament

Group A: France, USA, Guinea, New Zealand.

Group B: Argentina, Morocco, Iraq, Ukraine.

Group C: Uzbekistan, Spain, Egypt, Dominican Republic.

Group D: Japan, Paraguay, Mali, Israel.

The format of the Olympic tournament remains traditional: battling in four groups of four teams, with the top two advancing to the playoffs, followed by quarterfinals, semifinals, the match for third place, and the final (August 9th, Paris, Parc des Princes).

It's worth recalling that last summer, by defeating France (3:1) in the quarterfinal match of the 2023 Euro (U-21) and securing a spot in the semifinals, our team achieved a historic success, earning the country the right to participate in the football tournament at the Olympics for the first time. Alongside Ukraine, Spain and Israel also obtained licenses for the 2024 Summer Games in this discipline through the 2023 U-21 Euro.

Participants in the men's football tournament at the 2024 Olympic Games will compete from July 24th to August 9th in seven cities in France: Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Saint-Étienne, Nice, and Nantes. According to the regulations, players born after January 1, 2001, are eligible to participate. Additionally, each team can include three players older than this age.

In total, 16 national teams will participate in the tournament: France as the host, three teams representing Europe (Ukraine, Spain, Israel), three from Africa (Morocco, Egypt, Mali), three from Asia (Japan, Uzbekistan, Iraq), two from South America (Paraguay, Argentina), two from the CONCACAF region (USA, Dominican Republic), one from Oceania (New Zealand), and the winner of the intercontinental play-off (Guinea).