The national team of Ukraine played a friendly match against Gdansk Lechia. The game took place on the city stadium built for Euro-2012. Four matches of the final tournament of continental supremacy were held at this stadium, which was constructed in the shape of a giant amber, long produced along the coast of the Baltic Sea.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

The friendly match against Lechia was part of the preparation for the decisive showdown with Italy. In this game, head coach Serhiy Rebrov gave almost all players present in camp a chance to play, and three experienced veterans wore the captain's armband during the game—Serhiy Sydorchuk, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Taras Stepanenko. Additional strain was placed on the footballers by late autumn: after a cold but dry morning and lunch, rain began to fall just as the teams came out for warm-up, quickly turning into a heavy downpour that lasted until the final whistle. The air temperature at the start of the match was 2 degrees Celsius, and during the encounter it rose another 2 degrees, which is quite interesting. However, it did not get any warmer: the cold penetrated to the bone.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

In the starting lineup of the Polish team, three Ukrainians appeared—goalkeeper Bohdan Sarneyavskyi, field players Ivan Zhelezko and Maxim Khlyun. Overall, the second-tier Polish division side put up a worthy fight against Ukraine's national team, although the blue-and-yellow had an advantage throughout the match. In the first half, Oleksandr Pichalonok scored from a rebound after Serhiy Sydorchuk shot from inside the penalty area and Bohdan Sarneyavskyi parried the ball in front of him.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

In the second half, a fast break down the flank from Viktor Tsygankov led to an attacking sequence that resulted in a goal. Tsygankov crossed the ball to Oleksandr Timchuk, who then passed it for Yegor Nazarina's shot. The latter's strike was powerful and accurate. Opportunities also arose for Mykhailo Mudryk and Taras Stepanenko. In particular, our captain had three excellent shots from different positions, but either the ball hit the crossbar or the goalkeeper managed to parry a dangerous attempt, or defenders came to his aid. After the game, teammates joked that in the next match Stepanenko must surely get lucky. Regardless, having received worthy physical training and fulfilled their coaching staff's tasks, the blue-and-yellow left the field in good spirits and under applause from children from Ukraine's Football School, formed in Gdansk during wartime, whom the national team invited to attend this game.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

Tomorrow, Ukraine's national team will continue their preparation in Gdansk for the match against Italy.

Photo by Pavel Kubanov

Friendship Match

«Lechia» — Ukraine National Team — 0:2 (0:1)

Goals: Pichalonok (22), Nazarina (53).

Ukraine National Team. First Half: Ryshnik (Buschan, 30), Karavaev, Bondar, Matviienko, Taloviyor, Dubynchak, Sydorchuk (c), Malynovskyi, Pichalonok (Nazarina 30), Zubkov, Yaremchuk (Sykan, 30).

Ukraine National Team. Second Half: Buschan (Trubin, 60), Mykolenko, Zabarny, Svatos, Timchuk, Nazarina (Stepanenko, 60), Zinchenko (c), Sudakov, Mudryk, Tsygankov, Sykan (Dovbik, 60).

National Team Roster

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

Defenders: Mykola Matviienko, Yurym Konoplya, Valeriy Bondar (all — «Shakhtar» Donetsk), Oleksandr Timchuk, Vladyslav Dubynchak (both — «Dynamo» Kyiv), Vitaliy Mykolenko («Everton» Liverpool, England), Illia Zabarny («Bournemouth», England), Oleksandr Svatos (SK «Dnipro-1» Dnipropetrovsk), Maksym Taloviyor (LASK Linz, Austria).

Midfielders: Taras Stepanenko, Oleksandr Zubkov, Georgiy Sudakov, Yegor Nazarina (all — «Shakhtar» Donetsk), Oleksandr Karavaev («Dynamo» Kyiv), Oleksandr Zinchenko («Arsenal» London, England), Viktor Tsygankov («Girona», Spain), Mykhailo Mudryk («Chelsea» London, England), Serhiy Sydorchuk («Waasland-Beveren», Belgium), Ruslan Malynovskyi («Genoa» Genoa, Italy), Oleksandr Pichalonok (SK «Dnipro-1» Dnipropetrovsk).

Forwards: Artem Dovbik («Girona», Spain), Roman Yaremchuk («Valencia», Spain), Danylo Sykan («Shakhtar» Donetsk).

Reserve List: Dmytro Popov, Vitaliy Buialskyi, Vladyslav Vanat (all — «Dynamo» Kyiv), Nazariy Rusyn («Sunderland», England).

Oleksandr Hlyvinskyi, press secretary of the national team of Ukraine