Kosyrin: In the match with Romania, all the players of the Ukrainian national team played below their capabilities, and the guys had no emotions

Ex-blue-yellow forward – about the Romania-Ukraine match at Euro 2024

National team of Ukraine from a devastating defeat started at the European Championships. In his first match at the tournament the blue-yellows in Munich unexpectedly lost to the Romanian national team with a score of 0:3. We asked ex-footballer of the Ukrainian national team Alexander Kosyrin to analyze all the significant moments of this game.

— The final result, I must say, shocked everyone. What thoughts did you have before this meeting?

— I happened to read that the Romanian national team is the weakest team in our group. Many specialists and experts spoke about this. Everyone had already decided that three points would be easy enough for us. I didn’t think so. Romanian footballers are technically well-equipped, they won their group in the Euro qualifiers, conceding very few goals into their own goal.

— A few days ago, coach Mircea Lucescu, known to us, said that Ukraine is the clear favorite in this confrontation with the Romanian team. And the Ukrainian team can reach the semi-finals of the current continental forum…

– You can say whatever you want. Yes, in terms of composition and the qualifications of the players, we looked stronger than the Romanian national team, but everything is decided on the football field. Indeed, our opponent has players playing in the Italian Serie B, the middle peasants of the Turkish championship, and the middle Romanian teams.

— Before the start of the European Championship, the Romanian team held two sparring matches in Bucharest – they played with Bulgaria and Liechtenstein. Both matches ended in a draw – 0:0. What does this mean?

— I wouldn’t draw any serious conclusions based on the results of these fights. Many players act carelessly in such matches. We also played poorly against the Polish team in Warsaw. These are all control games, part of the preparatory process.

— When you saw our starting lineup, what did you think?

– As for the names, everything was fine. And the match already showed that Sergei Rebrov made a mistake with the goalkeeper. We all know that Lunin has not played in official games since mid-May due to illness. The first goal was an inaccurate pass from Lunin to Zinchenko. Our left-back simply watched whether the ball would come to him or not, and did not enter into the tackle. Of course, Stanciu performed everything masterfully.

Everything turned out well for the Romanian team. Then a quick counterattack, and Marin’s second goal turned out to be crazy, but that’s part of football. I note that Stepanenko lost the ball near someone else’s penalty area. Probably Taras can’t handle it anymore. The best solution would be to put Brazhko in the support zone.

— Why, in your opinion, did our coaching staff not make substitutions during the break of the game, since we played poorly and never shot on target at Nitsa?

“I think that Sergei Rebrov believed in the guys and gave them a chance to improve the situation on the football field. We’ve had games where we’ve lost and turned things around over the last year. It’s more important to say that our guys had no emotions.

– Wait, how can you go to such a match and such an arena without emotions? Personally, I have been to this stadium and I will say that this is a fantastic arena where you want to play as best as possible…

– I agree with this. I was also at the Allianz Arena with my friend Sergei Bilozor. Remember the game in the Champions League between Bayern and Shakhtar, which ended with a score of 7:0. We just grabbed a hot dog, sat down, and the Germans earned the right to a penalty in the 3rd minute, and even the referee sent off Alexander Kucher.

Today, perhaps, the hot weather factor also had an effect. We played all the sparring in the evening, and here the match began at 15:00 local time. It was clear that the players of both teams were hot to play. I’ll also note that we played as if we were away. Everywhere you look there are only Romanians in the stadium. There were probably 40 thousand of them. There were Ukrainians too, but not in such numbers.

— And yet, what led to the final 0:3?

— The first pancake came out lumpy, as they say. Ours were not like themselves. There were mistakes, and there were a lot of them. We need to analyze everything before the second match with the Slovak national team. We all played below our capabilities. Only Sudakov tried to create something ahead. Yes, Yaremchuk and Sudakov began to create some kind of spice only in the last 10 minutes of the match. But this, of course, was not enough.

— Igor Surkis and Sergei Palkin were present at this match. They want to sell their leaders Shaparenko and Sudakov to Europe. A price tag of 300 million euros was posted for one, and the second will not be sold for an amount less than 70 million euros. What do you think about it?

— One has already been sold to Chelsea for 70 million euros, and he has not yet been able to prove himself. If Mudryk had been sold for more adequate money, he would have played differently, I think so. Therefore, these price tags for Shaparenko and Sudakov can bring nothing but problems. Players can also be broken psychologically.

— On June 21, our team will play the second match in the group. In Dusseldorf, the Ukrainian team will play against the Slovak team, which beat the Belgian team. How many changes to the starting lineup should Sergei Rebrov make to change the mood and play of our team?

— At least four people need to be changed. The main thing is that our game did not work out in the center of midfield. We didn’t keep the ball in the opponent’s half of the field at all. I think that Brazhko and Malinovsky will be able to change the game of the Ukrainian national team. Without a spark and a desire to win, such games are not won.

— What drinks should fans of the Ukrainian national team drink after such a defeat?

– Those who are in Germany – beer. Who in Ukraine – validol and various sedatives. I’ll limit myself to a glass or two of white wine.

Source: Sportarena

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