Andriy Shevchenko: "Our footballers have the motivation to show a decent game against Spain"

12.10.2020 20:05

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

On the eve of the match with the Spanish national team in the League of Nations, the head coach of the national team of Ukraine Andriy Shevchenko held a press conference.

- What is the current personnel situation in the team? Are everyone healthy? It is known that Viktor Kovalenko had problems…

- The guys are recovering, we will have pre-match training. It is very important how they will feel. We talked to Kovalenko in the morning - he had no problems. Tests for coronavirus were negative, which is also a positive point. We are preparing according to our plan.

- You were the last to score for the national team of Ukraine in the gates of Spain - it happened in 2003. In the last four matches we lost to this opponent with a total score of 0:10. What is the reason for such results? In bad luck, coincidence, psychology?

- You listed everything, but forgot about quality. Our players do the best they can for today. Spain currently has a stronger team, as in recent years. We are working on it. I know that our players have the motivation to show a good game. We are counting on the available forces, we will prepare a plan for the match.

Clearly, it is impossible to be particularly revealing with such teams that have an advantage in quality and class of performers. We need to change the structure of our game a bit - first of all in defense, to play more compactly and aggressively. Spain makes excellent use of the flanks, it has very good players who play well in each other. If we can block them, we will try to fight.

- Do you consider the experience of the match in Madrid key to preparing for tomorrow's match?

- We watched that match, I did it many times. Tomorrow's match will be completely different for us, because we have other players. So, there will be another preparation. In order to stop good players, it is not enough to play one on one. Definitely need insurance, you need huge energy costs. It all depends on whether we can recover. It has always been problematic for us to hold two matches in a row, and this game will be the third. I hope that the fans who come to the stadium will support the guys and give some energy.

- Who will replace Ruslan Malinowski?

- We will decide on the composition. Today we have pre-match training, one of the tests for football players so that they can show their condition. I already have some ideas with the composition. Today we will work out some points. Let's see if our plan works.

- What surprises are you preparing for the opponent?

- We must play as a team more compactly and aggressively. Much will depend on the condition of the players, because we have a lot of energy. Spain is one of the best teams in the world. She presses very high, practically does not give the opportunity to play the ball. The Spaniards do it well and in an organized way, they have strong performers.

- The coach of the Spanish national team stated that he does not feel threatened by tomorrow's match. That is, he is very confident as a result of the fight…

- The coach of the Spanish national team understands perfectly in what condition our team is. We don't have eight or nine regular players. At the moment we have a lot of players from the U-21 national team. In the match with Germany, we saw that the guys, showing character, spending a lot of energy and showing concentration, showed good football. I hope that tomorrow we will see exactly the dedication, concentration and desire we need to transfer our plan to the field.

- In case of a successful result, will you greet the fans after the match in the traditional style?

- We will all be satisfied if we achieve a positive result. We are very happy that the spectators will come to the stadium. We have already felt their support with Germany, it was really nice.

- The national team is holding its third match in a row against top rivals. Do these games show that our national team is still not at that level?

- The situation changes every month. How can we judge the level of the national team at all, when it is practically without the main players? The match with Spain is very important, but due to the current situation it is a chance for young performers. We will evaluate them at this level. For them it is a huge experience.

As for the three games, next month we will have almost the same schedule with three matches. We wanted to get to this level, we deserved it. Before the start of the League of Nations, I said that it would be a great result for us to stay here. We scored three points and three more games ahead. We will fight to the end to stay in this league.