TM Parimatch Expert Club Meeting: Star Visitors and Tasks for the Ukraine National Team in the Euro-2020 Final

19.11.2019 21:58

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

19 November happened in Kyiv final this year withmeeting of the discussion club Parimatch, which was attended by well-known experts and representatives of the media.

The Ukrainian Football Association and the official partner of TM Parimatch national football team of Ukraine have continued the tradition of summarizing the matches of the national team that took place throughout 2019. During such events, journalists in an informal atmosphere can communicate with representatives of top management of Ukrainian football, well-known players, coaches, analysts and exchange views on the prospects of the country's main team.

On the occasion of our national team reaching the finals of Euro 2020, the last expert club this year became special. After all, his main guests were the players of the national team - Taras Stepanenko, Andriy Pyatov and Oleksandr Karavaev. The coaching staff of the blue-yellows was represented by Oleksandr Shovkovsky, UAF - the first vice-president Oleg Protasov, Parimatch - Vadim Misyura. Oleksandr Hlyvynskyi, the press attaché of the national team of Ukraine, traditionally acted as the host and moderator of the event. Before the club meeting, he invited journalists to predict the future rivals of the Ukrainians in the final part of the Euro. The one who guesses the largest number of opponents will receive two T-shirts of the national team of Ukraine with autographs of football players.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

At the beginning of the meeting, the success of the blue and yellows, who did not lose a single match in 2019, said Oleg Protasov, who expects that the coming year 2020 will give fans even more bright matches and good results from our national team: "Guys - well done, they showed fantastic result. It was very interesting to watch every match of the national team, it was noticeable that the team has a great atmosphere, every player comes to its ranks with good motivation, with a good mood. We see that our cooperation with Parimatch turned out to be successful, a good season turned out. Therefore, we must continue to move in the same direction. Football is our life, our emotions. So now we are waiting for the draw and thank the guys for the happy moments they gave to the whole country. "

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

In turn, Vadym Misyura also thanked the players present at the event for a good result in the qualifying round and assured that close and fruitful cooperation with the Ukrainian Football Association is just beginning: "With a great victory for all of us! In this qualifying round, the Ukrainian national team showed aerobatics. It is especially important that in the past year we have never lost. And it is very nice that the meetings of the expert club have become a constant companion of the national team's success. Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro - and now the final meeting is again in Kyiv. Our expert club is designed to combine such different football schools and views in one: to give an objective assessment of the games of the national team and the most interesting information for the media and fans. Thank you to all media partners for their active participation and support. "

Lisbon and Luxembourg

While journalists, experts and fans had to choose the blue and yellow rivals in the group, Oleksandr Hlyvinsky invited the audience to return in March this year, when our team began its tournament journey with away matches against Portugal and Luxembourg. This is what the representatives of the national team said about those events.

Oleksandr Shovkovsky: “At that time I just joined the coaching staff of the national team of Ukraine, but I immediately noticed what a great atmosphere and friendly team there is in the team. It was immediately obvious that the team has the path it has chosen. The boys listened carefully and, most importantly, performed the tasks offered to them by the coaches. The difficulty of preparing for the match against Portugal in Lisbon was that we were just starting the second part of the season, and the Portuguese have already started their matches. But our team had a great desire to play successfully. As for the meeting in Luxembourg, we saw that it was difficult to recover in three days, so there was a rotation. The game was difficult, as we expected. But due to the desire and character, the guys scored the winning goal in the last minutes. "

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

Andriy Pyatov: “Ronaldo? It was not as difficult for me as it was for our defenders. My main task as a goalkeeper was to stand in the place where the blow will be. And so it turned out. He didn't score because I chose the right position. "

Taras Stepanenko: “We prepared a lot for this match, we worked a lot on the field to deprive the Portuguese of space. There was also luck on our part, Andriy Pyatov played wonderfully. But at the end of the match we even had a chance to win when Pepe prevented Moraes from hitting accurately. "

Alexander Karavaev: "Of course, it was difficult against Ronaldo. But our chance was to play compactly. We tried to take advantage of the opponent's mistakes. Plus behind us was Andriy Pyatov, who became the hero of that fight. "

The defeat of Serbia

Recalling the middle of the qualifying round, both the players and Oleksandr Shovkovsky agreed that at that time the Ukrainians considered the Serbian national team to be their main competitor.

Oleksandr Shovkovsky: “For us, the difficulty of home matches with Serbia and Luxembourg was that it was June and the end of the season. In my opinion, the key point was that Andriy Shevchenko called the legionnaires to the national team a week before the first game so that they would not lose their tone, because their championships were over. We carefully prepared for the confrontation with the Serbs, studied the opponent, the strengths of his players. It was a great match, so we logically arranged a defeat for the guests. "

Oleksandr Karavayev: “The success of our team is that we come to the national team with other emotions. And we approached the match with the Serbs in optimal condition. Then there was a difficult match with Luxembourg, but then we already found our game, and it was difficult to stop us. " 

September: a chance for first place

According to midfielder Taras Stepanenko, after the team scored 10 points, she realized that there is a chance to continue to fight for first place in the group. "We were in pain then for the Portuguese to beat the Serbs. We played a match in Lithuania, and the main problem was the fact that we had to play on an artificial turf, which was not in very good condition. Fortunately, we played there confidently and won, after which we already dreamed of the first place in the group, "Stepanenko said.

Portugal in Kiev

The most emotional in the qualifying tournament for the blue and yellows was a home match against the national team of Portugal in Kiev.

Oleksandr Shovkovsky: “I hope we managed to surprise the Portuguese a bit with our scheme for this game. Yaremchuk was on the left, and Marlos was a freelance artist. I think that the course of the match confirmed that the opponent did not expect it. Due to proper defense, attack and compactness, we managed to fully control the course of this game until the 75th minute, until Taras Stepanenko and the referee decided to check the nature of our team. But even then we still played our game, and there were times when the Portuguese just did not know what to do on the field. They felt confused. Undoubtedly, a lot of merit in the victory of our goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov, who played perfectly. After this match, we were already out of reach for rivals in the group. "

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

Taras Stepanenko: “This is a withdrawal… I then practiced such kickbacks during Shakhtar's training sessions with Serhiy Kryvtsov, and we came to the conclusion that it is impossible to remove our hands in such a situation. It was hard for me to watch the end of the game. The fourth referee kicked me off the steps of the stadium, so I watched the last minutes of the match in the locker room. I couldn't even be completely happy, because I was very worried. But I rested when the team went to Serbia without me (laughs).

Tasks for the Euro

According to Oleg Protasov, in any case, in the final part of the Euro, Ukrainians will face a difficult but interesting group: “It will be an interesting championship. For our part, we will do everything possible to ensure that the team and coaching staff continue to have excellent conditions for training. Together we will hope that the team will show the same good game as in the qualifying round. "

Oleksandr Shovkovsky asked to wait with discussions about the chances and tasks of Ukrainians in the final part of the Euro, just to enjoy the success that the team has achieved in the qualifying round. "Yes, we are hungry for serious success in such big tournaments, but we have to play there with a hot heart and a cold head," said Andriy Shevchenko's assistant. - I think that the experience of Euro 2016, which turned out to be unsuccessful for Ukraine, will help footballers in preparation for the upcoming European Championship. I am sure that all participants of the championship will set tasks to at least leave the group. That's why we will also try to leave the group in the first place. "

In turn, Andriy Pyatov assured that, despite the young age of some of his teammates, these guys will not burn out, coming to such a big tournament: "Zinchenko plays for Manchester City, Malinowski - in Italy, Mykolenko is not afraid of anyone at all… That's why I don't see anyone who can burn out. We will still have time to prepare, there will be games in European cups for clubs, there will be a training camp in March. Therefore, we will assess our readiness before the start of the Euro. "