Semi-defender of the national team of Ukraine Taras Stepanenko participated in a press conference ahead of the Euro-2024 qualification match against North Macedonia together with head coach Serhiy Rebrov.

— In the friendly match against Germany (3:3) you personally worked against Kimmich. North Macedonia has a similar player — Elmaz. How similar will your tasks be for tomorrow's match?

— To be honest, I did not play personally against Kimmich. He operated in the zone where I was, so we often met there. Individually, we are not playing like that now, Serhiy Stanislavovych definitely does not ask for this. Now every team at this level has very good players. You mentioned a representative of North Macedonia. Of course, one needs to pay attention to such performers. We will try to cope with the player like Elmaz as well.

— In the final tournament of Euro-2020, Ukraine's national team also met North Macedonia (2:1). What do you remember from that match?  How much has the opponent's team changed since then?

— Of course, I remember that game, it was very difficult. For a while we were leading and had more chances, kept possession of the ball. But then we missed a penalty, the opponent seized the initiative and had two or three very dangerous moments, and in the end we got lucky. It's a good team; we are preparing for them very seriously. If my memory does not betray me, many players from that national team who played against us at Euro also received a call-up now. They also operated under the same tactical scheme as they do today.

The nearest match of Ukraine's national team in the Euro-2024 qualification will be on June 16 against North Macedonia. The game will take place in Skopje at the «Todor Proeski» Stadium (kick-off at 9:45 PM Kyiv time).