Natalia Zinchenko: "At the meeting in Turkey we checked the nearest reserve, in January in Portugal we are already using all the strongest"

22.11.2018 12:45

Photo of FFU press service

On October 16, Natalia Zinchenko was approved as the head of the women's national team of Ukraine, and in early November the main team of the country under her arm went to the meeting in Turkey, which ended two control matches with Kosovo football players.

- We decided not to call several of our leading players who play for foreign clubs, because we know their capabilities well, - said Natalia Zinchenko. - I wanted to check the nearest reserve, there were seven debutants at once, most of whom used to play for the youth national team of Ukraine under my leadership. We wanted to know if they had the character to challenge older rivals. For now, I will not evaluate the actions of my new wards, because this is just the beginning of selection work. It is important that they returned home healthy at the end of the first part of the season. In general, the gathering was held at a high organizational level.

— Why did sparring work with the Kosovo team?

- To be honest, I wanted to play with more famous rivals, but they were all already involved in control matches. Still, the matches with the Kosovo players were useful, especially considering that we were an experimental team. It was important to make sure that our girls would have the ability to find the shortest way to the gate in opposition to the counterparts, who are defended by great forces.

- Your predecessor, Volodymyr Reva, used the scheme 1-4-3-3, and you are a supporter of what tactics?

- I will not talk about my preferences, we will still act depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent. It is also important that the wards are always motivated, strive to demonstrate everything they can…

- You signed a two-year contract. The main exam for our footballers in this segment is the European Championship…

- Yes, we are looking forward to the results of the draw of the previous stage of the European Championship, which will take place in February next year. And in January we have another training camp planned for Portugal, which will end with two sparring matches with the national team of this country. There I am going to involve all our strongest football players.