The day after the victory over North Macedonia (2:0), the national team of Ukraine held a morning training session on the field at FC «Sparta» base in Prague's Stragošov district.

Eleven outfield players and two goalkeepers — Georgiy Bushchan and Dmytro Rytsnik — participated. Meanwhile, Anatoliy Trubin and the rest of the players who started yesterday’s match remained at the hotel to undergo recovery procedures.

Photos by Pavel Kubanov

Unfortunately, the squad of Ukraine's national team has decreased by two players: on Sunday morning, Serhiy Krivtsov and Ruslan Malinovskiy left the blue-and-yellow ranks. The former suffered a thigh muscle injury, while the latter received his third yellow card in this qualifying cycle and thus will not be able to participate in the game in Malta.

Today, the coaching staff proposed an interesting workout for the players. They worked on pressing, defensive and attacking actions, as well as finishing exercises.

Photos by Pavel Kubanov

After an hour of work, the team members paid attention to the families of our fallen heroes — football supporters. The children, wives, and parents of fallen fighters for Ukraine's freedom came to the match in Prague as part of the «Heroes' Stand» project. Head coach Serhiy Rebrov and national team players took a group photo with their special guests who enthusiastically supported the boys by chanting throughout training. Afterward, anyone interested could take photos with one of the footballers and get an autograph. The warm conversation brought pleasant moments to both the families of fallen supporters and the players.

Photos by Pavel Kubanov

“When you look into the eyes of the relatives of our heroes, it's hard to even imagine the depth of loss they are experiencing. We will forever be grateful to their sons, husbands, and fathers for what they gave up so that we could live and play football, for preserving Ukraine. To gift such pleasant moments of communication to their families, to honor the memory of their most beloved — is the least we can do.” — said one of the scorers in yesterday's match against North Macedonia, Oleksandr Karavaev.

Photos by Pavel Kubanov

After lunch, the national team of Ukraine left their hotel in Prague and headed to the airport. A departure at 16:00 is planned for La Valetta. The next training session will take place tomorrow on Malta's National Stadium (start time — 7 PM CET) and it will be an official pre-match training. Half an hour before that, head coach Serhiy Rebrov and one of the blue-and-yellow players will meet with media in a press conference format.

Composition of Ukraine's National Team

Goalkeepers: Georgiy Bushchan («Dynamo» Kyiv), Anatoliy Trubin («Benfica» Lisbon, Portugal), Dmytro Rytsnik («Shakhtar» Donetsk).

Defenders: Mykola Matviyenko, Yurym Konoplyan (both — «Shakhtar» Donetsk), Dmytro Popov, Oleksandr Karavaev (both — «Dynamo» Kyiv), Oleksandr Svynok («Dnipro-1» Dnipropetrovsk), Vitaliy Mykolenko («Everton» Liverpool, England), Illia Zabarnyi («Bournemouth», England), Bohdan Mikhaylichenko («Dynamo» Zagreb, Croatia).

Midfielders: Vitaliy Buyalskiy («Dynamo» Kyiv), Taras Stepanenko, Oleksandr Zubkov, Georgiy Sudakov, Yegor Nazarina (all — «Shakhtar» Donetsk), Oleksandr Pichalnyk («Dnipro-1» Dnipropetrovsk), Oleksandr Zinchenko («Arsenal» London, England), Mykhaylo Mudryk («Chelsea» London, England), Serhiy Sydorchuk («Waasland-Beveren», Belgium).

Forwards: Roman Yaremchuk («Valencia», Spain), Artem Dovbyk («Girona», Spain), Vladyslav Vanat («Dynamo» Kyiv), Nazariy Rusin («Sunderland», England).

Oleksandr Hlyvinskyi, press secretary of Ukraine's national team