The Ukrainian national team is experiencing personnel problems before the match with Ireland
Main coach Ukrainian national team Oleksandr Petrakov shared his expectations from the match of the fourth round League of Nations against Ireland. The mentor said that a number of players may miss the upcoming match.
“If we had won all five games, we would have been in the World Cup. I don’t know if it’s hard for the guys. This is our job. We play not for ourselves, but for the whole country. To bring positive emotions to our compatriots. Our team is doing well,” Petrakov said.
“The personnel situation is as follows: Yaremchuk has an ankle injury, he will go for an MRI. Let’s see what’s up with him. Zubkov has a fever, he will not train. Yesterday Sobol collided with Popov, but both will train today. Yarmolenko will train today, he is the captain of the team. Malinovsky also had a fever yesterday. The whole team got sick. But in general, we are doing well.”
“I can say for myself that after the match I will return to Ukraine. I’m going to my family, to Kyiv. I love my country. Last match [с Арменией] we felt at home. It was my initiative to play here in Lodz. There were a lot of Ukrainians, then I was in the city center. Everyone was grateful – men, women, children. There was a very good atmosphere, thanks to both our fans and all of Poland. We are treated very well here.”
“Pyatov? This is a great footballer. He deserved such farewell. He wanted to leave the national team earlier, but I asked him to stay and play in the match against Armenia. We played him well, it was his initiative to end his career in the national team.”
“The League of Nations is held so that test matches are not played. Such matches do not play a big role. But there are matches with tournament tasks. I don’t think Ireland will be in trouble if some of their key players don’t play. Let’s see how Ireland will play. We are ready for any scenario. But we focus only on our team, so we will see what will happen tomorrow on the field. The team understands that it can gain a foothold in first place. But you don’t have to run ahead of the locomotive, this is football and sports.”
Match Ukraine – Ireland will be held on Tuesday, June 14, in the Polish city of Lodz. The fight starts at 21:45 Kyiv time. The main referee of the meeting is Ali Palabiyik from Turkey.
Petrakov’s team is leading in Group 1 of Division “B” of the League of Nations after two games played. Last week, Ukraine defeated Ireland (1:0) in Dublin and beat Armenia (3:0) in Lodz.
Source: Sportarena
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