The Ukraine national team secured a convincing victory over Belgium in yesterday's League of Nations playoff match (3:1). According to fans, the "Man of the Match" award went to central defender Illia Zabarnyi (25% votes).

Photo: Dan Balashov

The scorer of the third goal against Belgium shared his impressions from the game.

“I have very pleasant feelings after this match. It's great to score a goal and win. This is important — to give positive emotions to our fans, to all of our country. This is my first "Man of the Match" award, but I hope it won't be the last one. I think that today all of our guys played for this trophy. Everyone fought and gave their all.

As usual, we conceded a goal and started playing seriously after conceding. This needs to change,  as I believe. But still, everyone saw our unbreakable character and that we play until the end without stopping. Today was an important victory over a good opponent. We need to recover now, prepare for the next match, and give the same result.”

“I remember my goal well. It came from a corner kick that rebounded to the right flank. Sasha (Zinchenko. — Ed.) passed it very well, and I scored.”— said Zabarnyi.

Recall that the return match of the League of Nations playoff for a place in next year's elite division A will take place on Sunday, March 23, in Ghent. The kickoff is at 8:45 PM Kyiv time.