New tournament — new challenge. This was emphasized by the head coach of Ukraine's national team, Oleksandr Petrakov, before the start of the official training session at the "Aviva" stadium, where the blue-and-yellow will kick off in the 2022/2023 League of Nations on June 8.

Photo by the press service of the UAF

The coach clearly stated the goal that stands before the national team — to return to the elite League A. This is what all efforts of players and coaches will be directed towards now. Due to injuries or physical condition, three members of the squad did not participate in the pre-match training session. An MRI and CT scan confirmed a ligament injury of the metatarsophalangeal joint in Georgiy Bushchan (recovery will take about two weeks) and a fracture of the toe phalanx in Taras Stepanenko.

Photo by the press service of the UAF

These boys will definitely not play in Dublin. However, Eduard Sobol felt a slight discomfort, and doctors decided it would be better for him to skip today's training session. Whether Eduard can participate in tomorrow’s match against Ireland remains to be seen.

Photo by the press service of the UAF

Meanwhile, the rest of the players participated in the pre-match training session during which the coaching staff determined the lineup for tomorrow's match. Coach Oleksandr Petrakov spoke about some of the players who will be on the field at a pre-match press conference, but he traditionally announced the full starting lineup tomorrow, before the team leaves the hotel for the stadium.

We remind you that the match against Ireland will start at 21.45 (Kyiv time).

Oleksandr Hlyvinskyi, press secretary of Ukraine's national team

Photo by the press service of the UAF

List of players in Ukraine's national team

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

Defenders: Oleksandr Karavayev, Illia Zabarnyi, Oleksandr Syrota, Dmytro Popov (all — «Dynamo» Kyiv), Mykhailo Matviienko, Valeriy Bondar (both — «Shakhtar» Donetsk), Vitalii Mykolenko («Everton», England), Eduard Sobol («Club Brugge», Belgium), Taras Kachaраба («Slavia», Czech Republic).

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

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