Andriy Yarmolenko: “Teams have evolved, every game is challenging”

09.09.2024 19:24

Captain of the Ukraine national team Andriy Yarmolenko, alongside head coach Serhiy Rebrov, attended a press conference ahead of their UEFA Nations League 2024/2025 match against Czechia.

— Roman Yaremchuk mentioned that the team learned lessons after the Euro, but the game against Albania didn’t differ much from the one against Romania. In this context, what is your influence on the younger players and their attitude towards representing the national team?

— Of course, after the match against Romania, every player who was with the national team learned lessons. I think our next game against Slovakia demonstrated that. Losing to Albania shouldn’t be interpreted as if we went onto the pitch without wanting a good result. The guys are also affected, they understand where they are coming from and that they represent a country at war. I come to press conferences to defend the guys as well — people shouldn’t pile on them. We want to show the best football possible. But you also need to understand that all teams have evolved, and every game is challenging. Albania is a different team from what it was five years ago, as shown by their performances at Euro and against us. Everyone gave their best, but it’s football — things happen. We need to draw conclusions from such matches and move forward.

What can I give to the young players? Of course, it’s experience. If a young player wants to ask me something, I’m always open and ready to help.

— Have you discussed with the players events such as the beginning of the full-scale war when you had to play matches? How do you deal with such moments?

— When the full-scale war began, there was no time to discuss anything. You were worried about your family and ensuring that your loved ones were safe. I also want to sincerely thank the Czech national team players — Coufal, Soucek, Kral — who supported me greatly and offered their help. I will always be grateful to them for that.

— How do you prepare for matches when training or a game could be interrupted by an air raid alert at any moment?

— It’s hard to get used to: when the game is going on and you hear the siren, you have to go to the bomb shelter. Of course, it’s not easy, but we can’t complain because we know what our military is doing. The ones who have it hard are them. So we endure and try to play football and bring some positive emotions to people.

As a reminder, in September, the Ukrainian national team will play another match in the Nations League 2024/2025 Group B1 in Prague. On the 10th, the Blue and Yellow team will face Czechia at Eden Arena.