Semi-defender of the Ukrainian national team Georgiy Sudakov shared his thoughts on the Euro-2024 qualifier match against England (1:1) and the upcoming game with Italy.

"If we talk about the schedule, last year we played in the Champions League final and the championship final two days apart. This is normal; at this level, you need to recover quickly and prepare for Italy."

Regarding the match with England, it's a very important point for fans and us, but one always wants to win regardless of who you're playing against. Probably, this is a good result for us, but it's not enough. Now — we have a game against Italy, all thoughts are only about that. We understand how important it is. England's draw with Macedonia (1:1) might help us in the upcoming matches."

At the start of the match with England, it was very difficult; for the first 15 minutes we didn't touch the ball at all. But they didn't create many chances — just one goal in the first half and no more opportunities. It's hard to play without the ball, you have to run a lot. But we took advantage of our chance, scored, played very well defensively.

We understood what kind of match it would be, what England represents, how strong they are. But at the same time, we didn't forget about our level and our game. We wanted to play more with the ball, but we knew how difficult that would be. The British pressed very high up the pitch; it was hard to come out through short or medium passes. We often used long balls, but everyone understands why this happened. But for such a style of play, you can say we're satisfied with the result.

Who stands out in England's national team? Many people, as there are strong footballers — individually and physically. Kane, Saka, Walker, Belligham, Maddison… It's hard to single anyone out. All players cost 100 million each — it's an incredible team.

We haven't analyzed Italy yet, so I can't say much about them. A strong team, top level, current European champions. Can't say they're weaker than England. Yes, the Italians lost their first qualifier match, but now they'll be fierce, preparing for our game as if it were their last chance to turn things around. But we also go in search of points," — noted Georgiy Sudakov.

Recall that the Euro-2024 qualifier match between the national teams of Italy and Ukraine will take place on September 12th in Milan (kickoff at 8:45 PM Kyiv time).