Ukrainian football players understand the importance of the match with Italy
Head coach Ukrainian national team Sergey Rebrov spoke about the personnel situation in the team on the eve of the match with Italy in the 6th round of selection European Championship 2024. The mentor also appreciated the Italians’ performance under the leadership of new coach Luciano Spalletti.
“There is some minor damage. As far as I can see, everyone is training. We will make a decision after training. We have 25 players, we will need to make a choice. There are no injuries, there are microtraumas that do not interfere with the players. Now there is no load, the guys are recovering. Even during evening training we will become more familiar with the field and prepare for the game. These two days we are only engaged in restoration,” Rebrov said.
“Yarmolenko is training, you saw that he was a substitute. Unfortunately, Andrey has no practice and is recovering. For the last three or four days, Yarmolenko has been training in the general group. His appearance is quite possible.”
“Italy drew, I watched the game. It was a very tough match considering the state of the field. I saw the intensity, I saw how the Italians tried to win. I was surprised by this intensity. I am sure that tomorrow the intensity will be no less, we must be prepared for this.”
“I know how Italy will play. The players understand that this is a very important match both for Italy and for us. I always tell football players that they must respect the opponent but focus on their own game. If we don’t show it tomorrow, it will be very difficult. We understand how important the game is for Italy, but we have to think about us.”
“Italy is a top team, that’s why we didn’t beat them. It is very difficult to play with such opponents. We won a point against England, but it was very, very difficult. The same game awaits us tomorrow. We must believe in ourselves, understand that only with our performance we can win points at San Siro.”
“I hope that now the Ukrainian national team is going through very good times. Crisis in Italy? I watched all of Italy’s matches, including the final stage of the Nations League, and they are a very good team. Yes, they didn’t win the Nations League, but they show a very high level. That’s why I don’t think they are in crisis. This is a very strong opponent that we have to take very seriously.”
“First of all, it’s very good that we play here. There is a war going on in our country, it is important to represent it with dignity, as it was with England. We respect our opponent. We have a plan for tomorrow’s game. We must show the character of Ukrainians who are now fighting for their independence. Unfortunately, now football is not in the foreground in our country. But I think we showed character against England and we must do the same tomorrow.”
“We live now for the sake of our Armed Forces of Ukraine. Everything we do is for them. I can see from the players that they understand why and for whom they play. If you remember the mood that was at the match with England, which was transmitted from the stands, then they really represented our country with dignity. We are very grateful to every Ukrainian who comes to the match to support us. This is support not only for the national team, but for the whole country. The fight will be watched by millions of Ukrainians. I believe that there will be many Ukrainians who will support us.”
The Italy-Ukraine match will take place in Milan at the San Siro stadium on September 12. The meeting starts at 21:45. The fight will be judged by the Spanish team of judges led by Alejandro Hernandez.
Ukraine is second in Group C with seven points. Rebrov’s team is three points ahead of Italy, having played one match more.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.
