The head coach of Ukraine's U-21 national team, Ruslan Rotan, appeared at a press conference ahead of the quarter-final match at Euro 2023 (U-21) against France, which will take place on July 2 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania (kick-off at 22:00 Kyiv time).

—What personnel issues are there in the team? Is Mudryk ready to play from the start?

— Currently, we have minor injuries. Some players feel them more acutely. For example, Vyunik's participation is in doubt and we will decide on it on match day. As for Mudryk, he has been training with the main group for two days now. It's quite possible that he will play.

—Will VAR be used from the quarter-finals at Euro? Does this affect the players in any way?

— We approach a situation that is standard for European football, where all matches are played with VAR. We need to be as focused as possible and understand right from the start that there will be video reviews. This applies not only to defensive players but also to everyone on the field, overall discipline.

—What strong points would you highlight in the French national team?

— The French national team is one of the strongest teams we will face at this tournament. Most of their players are playing in top leagues. This speaks for itself. Individually, they are very strong, as we saw during our selection matches when we played two games against them. For us, tomorrow's game will be a crucial match where micro-duels that arise on the field will play an important role. I am referring to one-on-one situations and close-range plays, where French national team players have high skill levels. But we need to be prepared, disciplined, and compact as a unit, regardless of this, responding with our level of play, which we do not intend to compromise on. Let the opponent adjust to us.

—Is it important before the quarter-final to motivate players in some way or is it better to tone down the intensity? That is, the players feel confident and don't need motivational speeches...

— You become better when you play against the best. I told the boys this. They will be playing against the best footballers, possibly the best team at the tournament. Our main motivation is to become better than them. So if we win tomorrow, there's no better motivation than that. This is a test for our collective. I believe my boys deserve more. The best motivation is to become the best among the best.