Rebrov: I am sure that there are many players in Ukraine who deserve to be called up to the national team

Head coach Ukrainian national team Sergey Rebrov spoke about the nuances of working in the national team. The coach emphasized that there are a sufficient number of players on the team’s roster, and a number of players are not called up due to the lack of the required number of games where they could be used.

“Personally, these reproaches do not bother me. I understand in which direction we should move. I call a football player to the Ukrainian national team, based on how many players there are in a particular position.”

“If we call up 4 players for one position, the players we don’t call up will ask me, ‘Why did you call me in?’ Now there is competition for every position. We have several positions for which we invite three performers, for others – two. In our opinion, it is very important that they fit our model of play.”

“I am sure that there are many players in Ukraine who deserve to be called up to the national team. We analyze a lot, look at many factors and elements that are really important to our game model. Those people who talk about their players see potential in them. They are all potential candidates. We’re keeping an eye on everyone.”

“Unfortunately, in these six months we only played two friendly matches against Germany and not with the national team in Poland. Every game was decisive for us and we did not have the opportunity to review all the players on the radar of the Ukrainian national team. If we call up 4-5 players, there would simply be no way to attract them.”

“If you look at our calendar, then when we gather and have only 2-3 days for full preparation, we play two days later on the third – and the team leaves. There’s no point in calling up 30-35 players when you don’t have a training process.”

The Ukrainian national team will play away against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the semi-finals of the playoffs for the 2024 European Championship on March 21 in the city of Zenica, at the Bilino Pole stadium. If successful, Rebrov’s team will meet with the winner of the Israel-Iceland confrontation. The final match will be a “home” match for the blue-yellows and will take place on March 26.

Euro 2024 will take place in Germany from June 14 to July 14, 2024. The matches of the European Championship will be held in arenas in Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart.