The head coach of the Ukraine national team, Serhiy Rebrov, answered journalists’ questions at a press conference after the match against Azerbaijan in Baku (1:1):

— I understand that fans were expecting more from us today. Even if we had won 1-0, people would still have said it wasn’t enough. But you saw how many of our players are injured. Even today, I couldn’t include Hutsulak, who got hurt a day before the match. So it’s tough. At this level, it really is tough to play.

We’re at war; we need to support each other and support our national team. Yes, people can criticize me after every game. Even after beating Belgium, they said, "Why did you play so poorly in the first half?" It’s always like that, unfortunately. So I would like to appeal to fans: right now we’re all supporting our Armed Forces, but the national team is also Ukraine. Here Ukrainian players are playing. Everyone here is working at their maximum — me and the players. I hope fans will support the boys. We haven’t lost anything yet; there are many matches ahead.

Yes, we no longer have room for mistakes. But I’m confident that the footballers understand this. So I ask fans to remember that yes, we deserve criticism and accept it, but now we all need to stick together. We haven’t gone anywhere yet.

— Comment on the penalty kicks: in the first half against Azerbaijan, which was initially awarded but then rescinded by VAR, and in the second half — against Ukraine’s national team.

— I didn’t see the first penalty kick, so I won’t comment on it. In the second case, the ball hit the hand, but Zinchenko did not play deliberately with his hand. As far as I can tell, there was nothing there at all. I don’t know what they saw. But now we have VAR.

Before the game, I always emphasize that it’s necessary to be careful in our own penalty area and, conversely, show more aggression in the opponent's. Unfortunately, we didn’t adhere to these principles.

Note that Ukraine will play its next World Cup 2026 qualifier against Iceland on October 10th in Reykjavik (kickoff at 21:45 Kyiv time).