Shelaev: In the second half, Ukraine began to meet Iceland higher, and when defending, the opponent began to sit low

National team of Ukraine won the right play at the next European Championship. IN final of the playoffs of the qualifying round Sergei Rebrov’s team won strong-willed victory over the Iceland team – 2:1. All the most interesting moments match Ukraine – IcelandAlso blue-yellow prospects for Euro 2024 discussed with ex-footballer of the country’s national team Oleg Shelaev.

— What is the main conclusion that can be drawn after the end of the game between Ukraine and Iceland?

— In Wroclaw, both teams wanted to achieve a winning result. A huge desire to win forced the players of both teams to act carefully. Before the break, we saw a minimum of scoring chances. In the second half, the picture on the football field changed – the Ukrainian team had a clear advantage and was able to score the required two goals.

— The matches with Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as with Iceland, were separated by four days. The coaching staff had time to both restore the players and prepare for the decisive battle. Were you surprised by the three changes in the starting lineup of our team?

— After a difficult match with Bosnia and Herzegovina, our players were criticized, in some cases rightly so. Journalists and fans are always dissatisfied with something, everyone wants the team to beat everyone. However, the coaching staff has completely different data about the condition of a particular player. Yaremchuk earned his place in the starting lineup with his performance in Zenica. Tsygankov returned to the lineup after an injury, he was brought up to this match. There are no questions for the coaching staff here.

“However, the first half was not very successful for us again. Why?

— I think that the Icelandic team is much stronger than the Bosnia and Herzegovina team. Everyone understood the price of this fight and did not take too many risks. The center of the field was saturated, I can’t say that there were many free areas. And having already conceded a goal in the 30th minute of the game, we needed to be more active in someone else’s penalty area.

— Everyone knew the strong qualities of the game of Gudmundsson, the leader of the Icelandic team and Malinovsky’s partner in Genoa, but he scored again. Was it impossible to deal with him?

— Courage and work with the ball helps Gudmundsson. I wouldn’t blame our guys too much for this episode. Give the master two free meters, and he will do everything himself. And so it happened. In this attack by the guests there was a chain of mistakes on our part – Sudakov and Konopolya lost the ball, then Malinovsky and Brazhko slipped.

— By the way, why did our players often fall on the field?

— Not only our players, but also our opponents. It can be seen that the drainage at the stadium in Wroclaw was not of the best quality. Pieces of the lawn were being torn out, and it was noticeable.

— After the end of the game, at a press conference, Sergei Rebrov said that during the break of the match the players were talking in a raised voice in the locker room. At such moments, shouldn’t the head coach interfere in the players’ squabbles?

– Everything should be in moderation. The guys poured out their emotions. The team coach must indicate how and what needs to be changed in the game, what tactics to choose for the second half.

— What changed in our team’s play in the second half. After all, we had a great time.

— Our players began to meet their opponents higher. If in the first half this was done by 3-4 players, then in the second half it was already done by seven people. In the first half of the match, the Icelanders easily reached the center of the field and were able to further develop their attacks. But in the second half this was no longer the case. It was noticeable how they sat low towards their goal when defending.

– However, Viktor Tsygankov scored his goal during a quick counterattack…

— There, on the football field, there was a kind of swing – the attack of one team was replaced by the attack of another team. Georgy Sudakov picked up the ball in the center of the field and made a long pass to Tsygankov. This goal is entirely the merit of the Girona midfielder. Victor, in possession of the ball, forced the opponent’s defender to play under pressure, then he beat another defender and was able to shoot into the far corner of the goal. The Icelandic goalkeeper, it seemed to me, did not see the moment of our midfielder’s strike.

— Did you have the feeling when the score was 1:1 that we would put the squeeze on the enemy?

– Did not have. Let’s remember that the Icelandic team had two good chances to score – once Lunin saved by parrying a long-range shot, and then Zabarny’s mistake could have been fatal. Here the visiting midfielder forgave us. But it was the 78th minute of the match. It would be difficult to win back at such a moment.

— As it turned out, everything was decided by Mudryk’s goal. A lot is said and written about Mikhail in Europe. Is the high transfer fee of 70 million euros putting pressure on Mikhail?

– Certainly. There is a question of price here. They will talk and write about him. Big money prevails over a person. We can simply compare the wing midfielders – Tsygankov and Mudrik. And everyone can draw conclusions. Of course, Misha has many strong qualities; it’s not for nothing that Chelsea bought him for a lot of money. But how he can realize himself in Chelsea and the Ukrainian national team depends on Mudryk himself.

— Mudryk’s goal brought us to the European Championship…

— Until this moment, let’s say that Mudryk moved to play in the center of the field. Vitaly Mikolenko began to cover the entire left flank. Mikhail could break into the half-flank and could aggravate the game in the center of the field. Not everything always worked out for Mudryk, but in the 84th minute of the match the Ukrainian national team scored the decisive goal. Sudakov performed everything masterfully – he rolled the ball under Mudryk’s shot and our talent hit the unprotected corner of the goal – 2:1.

— Did we deserve to get to the European Championship?

– Yes. Everyone noted the quality of our team before this playoff round. Both Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland were within our capabilities.

— For the fourth time in a row we will play at the continental forum…

– Yes. We are used to the European Championships. We needed to get to Germany. Everyone knows what the situation is in our country now. There is a war going on, but our collections brought joy to all residents of Ukraine. With this victory, our team added positive emotions to our defenders.

— How do you like the group for Euro 2024, where we will compete with Belgium, Romania and Slovakia?

— I can’t say that this is a convenient group, but it’s not very difficult either. Perhaps, on paper, Belgium stands above other teams in our group. However, everyone has ambitions, and that’s great.

— Surprisingly, the Ukrainian national team never played with the Belgian national team during the period of independence…

– Interesting fact. Belgium is now experiencing a generational change. Hazard and Kompany are already enjoying life. Now De Bruyne, Lukaku and Doku are shining. I don’t think that Courtois will recover before the Euro, so we probably won’t see the duel between Andrei Lunin and Thibaut Courtois on the fields of Germany. But there will also be a lot of interesting things there. At this football festival, the Ukrainian national team will show its trump cards. Therefore, we will look forward to mid-June, when the continental forum starts in Germany.