Nataliya Zinchenko: Montenegro should not be underestimated. This team is a tough nut

10.09.2020 17:00

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

On September 18, the women's national team of Ukraine will hold another Euro 2022 qualifying match against Montenegro. To prepare for this game, our footballers will gather in Kyiv on the 14th.

- I'm counting on 22 players, whom I called for a training camp, - said the head coach Nataliya Zinchenko in a comment to the UAF official website. - Since there will be no more time for experiments and practice, then I decided to focus on the club version, betting on players from the strongest domestic clubs - Zhytlobud-2 and Zhytlobud-1. They know each other well, and I am convinced, will quickly find a common language.

- But among the players called to the training camp are those who play abroad, in particular, Nicole Kozlova in the United States…

- This is a promising striker, she has been playing overseas for a long time, and there have never been any problems with her arrival.

In general, I had exactly the football players I wanted to see. It is also important that during the long break none of the wards were injured or ill.

- What information about the closest rival, the national team of Montenegro, do you have?

- There are videos of the last official matches of the Montenegrins, we will definitely review and analyze them with the wards. This is a young fighting team, and its last place in our group should not be misleading. Montenegrins, figuratively speaking, a strong nut that will not be easy to bite. They try to act hard, using small foul tactics. As far as I know, the coaching staff of the national team of Montenegro has a task to warm up the team, which should shoot in the next qualifying rounds.

I think that this looseness can also help the Balkans to demonstrate their best qualities. However, we have nowhere to retreat, in order to keep the chances to break through, we must win.

- How do you plan to get to Montenegro in the current difficult conditions?

- According to UEFA's medical protocol, only charters can be used for flights. Thanks to the help of the UAF, we will fly to Podgorica on September 16 at 16.00 pm, return home on the 19th and immediately start preparing for the next match - with the Greeks. By the way, there was information that, given the difficult epidemiological situation in our country, the match Ukraine - Greece may take place on a neutral field - in Cyprus, but UEFA still allowed to play on September 22 in Kiev.