The national team of Ukraine continues a series of matches as part of their preparation for the 2022 World Cup playoffs and the June meetings in the Nations League 2022/2023. This time, the blue-and-yellow team played an evening match against Croatia's "Rijeka" (1:1). After the match, head coach of our team Oleksandr Petrakov evaluated his players' performance:

— Today was not the picture that should have been. The road was very tough. We got up at 8 in the morning and went to the airport where there was a flight delay for half an hour. Arrived in Rijeka, where it was 27 degrees Celsius. By the time we arrived at the hotel... But don't think I'm making excuses. This has never happened before. The boys literally had an hour of rest and then went to play. I am very grateful to them for playing today...

— Are you satisfied with Harmash's performance? How would you comment on the rumors that Harmash, Boyko, and Besedin will not be in the squad for the match against Scotland?

— I am the head coach, I have a coaching staff. We make decisions together.

— This is already the third friendly match of Ukraine's national team. Can you summarize any conclusions?

— We gathered on April 30, traveled for two days. First came players from "Shakhtar," and Dynamo players arrived on May 5. The boys trained well, went through training sessions and three games. There are no questions about any of them. Now we will make decisions, they are always difficult, but such football is where the strongest survive. We'll give the boys two days off now. I am satisfied with the training.

There is currently no planned match for May 23, but I'm told it may happen. Also on a 90% chance on the 26th, when all the foreign players will gather, we'll play against Congo's team. On May 30, we'll train and fly to Glasgow. God willing, everyone is healthy because there will be an English Premier League weekend this week-end. Malinovskiy misses Atalanta's match, so he'll arrive earlier.

As for Popov's injury, they said in Rome that the Achilles is intact, minor damage. Tomorrow our doctor will check on his condition. They say it will take about a week. The worst is over concerning Denis.

— How do you plan to spend your weekend?

— With our coaching staff, we'll be at the base, drive to Ljubljana and see the city. Coaches also need a break from football to recharge their batteries. In 2012 I already came here for the European Youth Championship.

— Will you watch the Europa League final?

— We are now going to the hotel, there will be dinner. Then we'll get on a bus and head to Ljubljana, so we'll watch the match in replay.

Lastly, I would like to thank the president of "Rijeka," the coach and players for helping us and organizing this game. Thank you Croatia and Slovenia for welcoming us brotherly. The attitude towards us here is simply wonderful. Today we once again supported Europe's choice of Ukraine. This is a conscious choice of our team. We want everyone in Europe to know that we aspire to join the EU family. Ukraine is Europe.