Ruslan Malinovsky: "We have a task - to stay in League A"

16.11.2020 19:01

Photo by Yevhen Kraws

Midfielder of the national team of Ukraine Ruslan Malinovsky commented on the game against Germany in the League of Nations and shared his thoughts on the next match - with Switzerland.

In the fifth round of the League of Nations 2020/2021 blue-yellow lost to the Germans with a score of 1: 3. On the eve of the meeting with Switzerland, Ruslan Malinowski shared his thoughts on the match with the Bundesliga:

- We played against a high-class team. I think we could have scored the second goal. If they used their opportunities, there would be more chances. The Germans started the match very well, but we scored, created moments. And then missed twice…

In terms of content, it was a good game against a worthy opponent. I think we are on the right track. Sometimes we looked good, sometimes not so much. In the future, we have to play the whole match with such intensity and quality, remove unnecessary losses and improve the completion of attacks. With such commands there are few moments from which it is necessary to squeeze the maximum.

— Can we, despite the defeat, call the match with Germany useful for our team?

- Of course. Defeats are not always helpful. Everyone wants to win, to achieve a positive result. But we understand which teams we play with. In the match with Germany we had a chance to get points. We can say that we were unlucky. The opponent studied us well, did not give much space. We have to look to the future, because the European Championship is ahead. We also have a task - to stay in League A. We have another match ahead of us, for which we have to prepare.

— How do positive tests for COVID-19 psychologically affect the condition of the team?

- Now everyone is in such a situation - clubs, national teams. There are many players in our team. Those who go out on the field try to show their game, their level. For many, this is a chance.

— What did Andriy Shevchenko say after the match with Germany?

- He said that we should progress through such games. Moreover, we have a lot of young people, a lot of guys who recently made their national team debut. I think that the League of Nations matches in the future will only help us.

— How is the team set up for the match with Switzerland?

- The hosts have a good team with qualified players, which puts high and aggressive pressure. In the match in Lviv, I think we were a little lucky in the first half. We scored, missed, and after the break did not give the Swiss many chances, played very compactly, scored the winning ball. We had even more opportunities to score the third goal than they did - to equalize the score. A difficult match is ahead, we have to play very focused. In terms of implementation, we must score everything we have. Let's also see how the guys recover.

— What are the strengths of the Swiss you can highlight?

- This is a team game, because they act very balanced, not the first year they play together. There are footballers who represent top clubs. We need to try to play very reliably in the middle of the field, not to let the Swiss show their football, what they love.