— To Oleksandre Vasyliovych, it seems that Ukraine's national team will not be able to conduct a friendly match in the final week of preparation for the game against Scotland. Why is this happening?

— Yes, unfortunately, there won't be a friendly match. We couldn't find an opponent who would suit us and be ready to play on our required dates — May 22-23 or May 26. First of all, I want to note that the UAF jointly with UEFA did tremendous work regarding friendlies. In a time when club championships are wrapping up and national teams have yet to assemble, finding a suitable partner for tactical preparation ahead of the game against Scotland is extremely difficult. I know that UEFA approached most well-known European clubs with an offer, but they declined due to their circumstances. We were actually set to play a friendly match on May 26 against the Democratic Republic of Congo, but the Africans backed out at the last minute for reasons known only to them.

— Were there any other options?

— There was a possibility to play against two Segunda Division clubs, but I believe that friendlies with these teams would not have been beneficial for us. Plus, traveling to hot Spain when we need to play in rainy Britain and the back-and-forth travel is exhausting... We had an offer from Lithuania's national team to play a match there on artificial turf, which could have harmed us. Malta was willing to host us but only on May 27-28, which is too late for us considering recovery before the Scotland game. There was also an option with Venezuela, but by then I had already decided that it would be better to conduct a two-sided practice match where almost all of our players would get 90 minutes of playtime, something we couldn't achieve in any friendly match. So there were options, but for various reasons they didn't suit us. This is my decision as the head coach.

— So, a friendly will take place, but an internal one…

— Yes, this makes more sense now. We'll divide the team into two groups and play at the training center of the Football Association of Slovenia, where we have been preparing for over three weeks on a familiar field without unnecessary travel or climate change. In the current situation, this is the only acceptable option.

— Will the responsibility and mindset in a two-sided match be the same as in a friendly?

— Absolutely. The players will get 90 minutes of game time, which is what we need now. They are all focused and know what they're preparing for. Of course, a friendly against another team would have been necessary, but I reiterate, finding an opponent at this time for the national team is extremely difficult. We are infinitely grateful to UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin, who gave us the opportunity to prepare in excellent conditions during wartime. We work intensively and will approach the game fully prepared.

Oleksandr Hlyvinskyi, press secretary of Ukraine's national team

List of Players for Ukraine's National Team

Goalkeepers: Georgiy Bushchan («Dynamo» Kyiv), Andriy Pyatov («Shakhtar» Donetsk), Dmytro Ryndzak («Vorskla» Poltava), Andriy Lunin («Real Madrid», Spain).

Defenders: Oleksandr Karavayev, Illia Zabarnyi, Oleksandr Syrota, Denys Popov (all — «Dynamo» Kyiv), Mykola Matviyenko, Valeriy Bondar (both — «Shakhtar» Donetsk), Vitalii Mykolенко («Everton», England), Eduard Sobolevskyi («Brugge», Belgium), Taras Kachaраба («Slavia», Czech Republic).

Midfielders: Taras Stepanenko, Mykhailo Mudryk (both — «Shakhtar» Donetsk), Serhiy Sydorchuk, Viktor Tsygankov, Mykola Shaparenko (all — «Dynamo» Kyiv), Oleksandr Pichalenko (SK «Dnipro-1»), Andriy Yarmolenko («West Ham», England), Oleksandr Zinchenko («Manchester City», England), Ruslan Malinovskiy («Atalanta», Italy), Oleksandr Zubkov («Ferencváros», Hungary).

Forwards: Artem Dovbyk (SK «Dnipro-1»), Roman Yaremchuk («Benfica», Portugal), Danylo Sikan («Hansa Rostock», Germany).