The result – a defeat and two draws
On June 14, the national team of Ukraine completed an incredible cycle in its history with a match against Ireland – five matches in 14 days. An incredible schedule that the blue-yellows went through with dignity – three wins, a draw and a defeat.
Yes, unfortunately, Ukraine has not completed the main task for the first half of June – to qualify for the final part of the World Cup. The match with Wales was the first and so far the only one lost by the blue-yellows under Alexander Petrakov. This match, as well as the second match against the Republic of Ireland, once again gave rise to a long-standing problem of the blue-and-yellows – not being able to turn the game if the team conceded first.
Suffice it to say that in 12 matches played by the national team under the leadership of Alexander Petrakov, the blue-yellows conceded first three times. The result – a defeat (from Wales) and two draws (in a friendly match with the Bulgarian national team and the League of Nations match with Ireland).
Note that similar problems were observed in the team in the final period of work with the team of Andriy Shevchenko. In the last 12 matches with Shevchenko at the helm (we take the same segment as with Petrakov, not taking into account the technical defeat from Switzerland), the team lost four times – England, Austria, the Netherlands and Germany. Moreover, only in a duel with the Bundestim, the blue-yellows scored first, in the other three – it was possible to make them rivals. With the Netherlands at Euro 2020, the Ukrainians managed to return to the game, having won back two goals, but in the end the team still lost. England and Austria could not score blue-yellow.
And for 12 matches, the team led by Shevchenko managed to escape defeat only twice, losing in the score – in a friendly game with Bahrain and the 2022 World Cup qualifier match with France. Yes, the level of rivals between the teams of Petrakov and Shevchenko varies, but nevertheless. Under Shevchenko, the national team, having conceded first, failed to score at least one goal in return in eight lost matches. In four – it was possible, but did not save from defeat. In one, already mentioned with Germany, the Ukrainians scored first.
See also: Petrakov: Now there will be no new names in the Ukrainian national team
Closing the topic of Shevchenko’s work with the national team, it should be noted that out of the 51st match under his leadership (we do not count those defeats from Switzerland), the team managed to avoid defeat in nine cases out of the 21st, having missed the first one: three wins, six draws. The Blue-Yellows beat Luxembourg (2:1) in Euro 2020 qualification, the Czech Republic (2:1) in the Nations League and Slovakia (2:1) in a friendly match. World Ukrainians have painted, in addition to the already mentioned Bahrain and France, with Serbia (2:2, qualification of the European Championship 2020), Nigeria (2:2, friendly), Italy (1:1, friendly) and Iceland (1:1, qualification of the World Cup -2018).
To summarize: in the last 63 matches played on the field under the guidance of two coaches, the blue-yellows were the first to concede in 24 matches. As a result – three wins, eight draws and 13 losses. In other words, 54% of the time the blue-yellows conceded first and lost. Of course, the selection is rough, if only because you need to take into account the minutes of goals conceded, the statistics of each match, but in general it is quite revealing.
Bogdan Gryschuk
Source: Sportarena
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
