Viktor Mykita: "Football during war has become a form of rehabilitation for defenders and a foundation for community development."
Roman Yaremchuk: "I hope It will be Ukraine's day, not Belgium's"
Forward of the national team of Ukraine, Roman Yaremchuk shared his expectations ahead of the third match at EURO 2024 against Belgium.
The Blue and Yellow team is wrapping up their preparations for the showdown with Belgium, which will determine our team's fate in Group E. On the eve of this decisive match, Ukraine's forward Roman Yaremchuk shared his thoughts.
"The team spirit came to the forefront against Slovakia. The match was tough for us, especially in the first half. But we turned the game around, with our team spirit and motivation coming to the forefront. During the break, we discussed how to press correctly. I was given some time to change the game, and I had to come out aggressively. Thank God, I scored and integrated well into the game. We can count this match as a positive and prepare for the next one in a good mood.
I don’t know if you saw my goal against Kazakhstan—it was quite good too. The goal against Slovakia was a striker’s goal. Yes, it was tough, but good strikers at a high-level score such goals. If you represent your country at this level, you have to score such goals. It’s good that everything worked out, I took the ball well and scored.
Belgium is a top team. Lukaku, De Bruyne, Doku—top-level players. We need to do something incredible to get points against such a team. I hope it will be Ukraine's day, not Belgium's. The opponent's level is very high, it will be a tough match.
The Belgian coach is tactically astute, but they are not in their best form right now. As far as I know, there is some criticism of the national team. So, they will play against us with double motivation. This pressure might push them towards more aggressive, open football. We'll see how the match unfolds and then we will analyze it," said Roman Yaremchuk.
Ukraine squad for EURO 2024
Goalkeepers: 1. Georgiy Bushchan (Dynamo Kyiv), 12. Anatoliy Trubin (Benfica, Portugal), 23. Andriy Lunin (Real Madrid, Spain).
Defenders: 22. Mykola Matviyenko, 2. Yukhym Konoplia, 21. Valeriy Bondar (all Shakhtar Donetsk), 24. Oleksandr Tymchyk (Dynamo Kyiv), 16. Vitaliy Mykolenko (Everton, England), 13. Illia Zabarnyi (Bournemouth, England), 3. Oleksandr Svatok (FC Dnipro-1 Dnipro), 4. Maksym Talovierov (LASK Linz, Austria), 26. Bohdan Mykhaylichenko (Polissya Zhytomyr).
Midfielders: 7. Andriy Yarmolenko, 19. Mykola Shaparenko, 18. Volodymyr Brazhko (all Dynamo Kyiv), 6. Taras Stepanenko, 20. Oleksandr Zubkov, 14. Georgiy Sudakov (all Shakhtar Donetsk), 17. Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal, England), 15. Viktor Tsygankov (Girona, Spain), 10. Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea, England), 5. Serhiy Sydorchuk (Westerlo, Belgium), 8. Ruslan Malinovskyi (Genoa, Italy).
Forwards: 11. Artem Dovbyk (Girona, Spain), 9. Roman Yaremchuk (Valencia, Spain), 25. Vladyslav Vanat (Dynamo Kyiv).
EURO 2024 Group E: Schedule and Results
June 17: Romania vs Ukraine - 3:0
June 17: Belgium vs Slovakia - 0:1
June 22: Slovakia vs Ukraine - 1:2
June 22: Belgium vs Romania - 2:0
Standings
|
|
Teams |
M |
W |
D |
L |
GD |
P |
|
1 |
Romania |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3—2 |
3 |
|
2 |
Belgium |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2—1 |
3 |
|
3 |
Slovakia |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2—2 |
3 |
|
4 |
Ukraine |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2—4 |
3 |
June 26: Slovakia vs Romania. Frankfurt Stadium, Frankfurt. Kick-off: 19:00 Kyiv time.
June 26: Ukraine vs Belgium. Stuttgart Arena, Stuttgart. Kick-off: 19:00 Kyiv time.
Kick-off times are in Kyiv time.
