Szabo: For the first 30 minutes only the Italians played, our team was not visible on the field at all

Former head coach Ukrainian national team Jozsef Szabo shared his impressions of the blue-yellow match against the team Italy (1:2) in the qualification for the 2024 European Championship. The famous specialist is disappointed with the performance of the national team.

“For the first 30 minutes only the Italians played, our team was not visible on the field at all. Our players are simply burned out. Italy was smarter, stronger and much more skilled. They completely beat us. We were constantly moving, playing one-touch, but our guys simply couldn’t keep up.

After 30 minutes, the Italians stopped and let Ukraine play. During these 15 minutes, our team created a goal and there were chances to score. But the opponent himself is to blame for stopping.

Well, how many mistakes can you make? The Italians had many chances, but not all of them realized them, but our players helped them by making unnecessary mistakes. What is the fall of Sudakov worth? And in the second half, due to Bushchan’s cutting, we had to concede the third goal. I don’t like that guys make a lot of mistakes.

I think that we will not bypass Italy. This is a football country and Spalletti has two equal teams. Rebrov does not have such players; our players make childish mistakes. It will be very difficult for us,” Szabo said.

After this match, the Italian national team scored 7 points and now ranks second in Group C. The Ukrainian national team is in third position with 7 points, but has played one match more.

In the next round of the qualifying round, the Ukrainian national team will play against North Macedonia on October 14. And the Italian team will play with Malta.