Oleksandr Petrakov: "The game with the South Africa team provided a lot of information on the eve of the World Cup"
Head coach of the U-20 U-1 national team Oleksandr Petrakov spoke about the blue-yellows' sparring against South Africa (1: XNUMX), Mykolenko's condition and rivals at the Polish Mundial.
- Are you satisfied with the control matches that the national team held on the eve of the start of the World Cup?
- The game against South Africa, which, like the match with Kolos, is over draw - 1: 1, not quite satisfied. But most importantly, it turned out a good sparring, well, that the opponent eventually came to us in Ukraine. We have seen our shortcomings, we need to have time to correct them.
- Vitaliy Mykolenko, unfortunately, will not help the national team ...
- He wanted to go, to be treated there in Poland. But I told him not to take the risk. He needs to recover, because on June 7, the national team will play against Serbia. God forbid he would "break" in Poland… That's why I didn't want to risk his health. Vitaly is still a player of the first team. But, I confess, we lack Mykolenko.
Photo by Pavlo Kubanov
- How did Beskorovainy replace him on the left flank?
- He just started playing for the national team. The guy is trying. He knows how to play this scheme, so I took him. I think that Daniel will help us.
- How ready is our team for the World Cup?
- All World Cup teams are basically equal. The main factors will be character and luck. The South African team is a bronze medalist of the African Championship. This team is similar in style to the team of Nigeria, with which we will play in the third round. An informative sparring was released.
- Are there any other personnel problems in the national team?
- No. But let's see what's with Musolitin's eye. Now everyone is playing control matches, preparing, someone is getting injured ...
- Have you studied enough the national teams of the USA, Qatar and Nigeria, which will be the rivals of the Ukrainians?
- Yes, we started studying them a long time ago. I reviewed a lot of material. We know the capabilities of our opponents.
- The national team of Ukraine U-20 was at the World Cup three times, but never passed the 1/8 finals ...
- You need to step over yourself. Our footballers know how to play three matches, and for the fourth they are no longer enough. They lose their composure, they get tired, they want to go home. This is uncharacteristic. We play three games, the fourth - no. We went through this in 2015. I understood it well then. At this level, there is no excuse for any relaxation.
The South African national team has arrived today. This is not Brazil. But we need to go down from heaven and think. They have speed, fighting qualities. Our guys are not enough for this yet.
Photo by Pavlo Kubanov
- Can the victory over the USA at the start of the competition give Ukrainians confidence in their abilities?
- This is football. You have to play and achieve the maximum.
- Will the base, which came to the match with South Africa, go to the first game of the World Cup?
- No, we are still experimenting. So far I am not ready to answer this question. I didn't like the performance of some artists. We need implementation, we lack that. So I'm still thinking about the composition.