Natalia Zinchenko: "That's who does not want to meet, so it is with the Portuguese"

25.02.2021 18:21

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

The women's national team of Ukraine returned from Turkey, where they played two friendly matches in preparation for the playoffs for the 2022 European Championship.

- 23 players went to this foreign training camp, - said the head coach of the women's national team of Ukraine Natalia Zinchenko in a comment to the official website of the UAF. - First we met with Serbian football players. And although it was my wards who opened the account, still draw result, 1: 1, should be considered natural. In the end, it is no coincidence that according to the table of ranks, our teams are approximately equal.

- The next opponent, the Indian national team, lost behind the class. However, in the course of the match our counterparts led - 2: 0…

- First of all, I want to say that there could be no talk of any hat-throwing mood on our part. It's just that I probably overestimated the possibilities of the reservists, because compared to the match with the Serbs, I made nine substitutions at once. But still in the end we succeeded tilt the scales to your side - 3: 2. This fight brought a lot of benefits - especially in terms of information. In the near future it is necessary to analyze in detail why not all players lived up to expectations.

- When will the national team of Ukraine meet again?

- April 4, when we will begin direct preparations for the playoffs. I hope that I will already have all the leading players.

- The draw for this stage will take place on March 5, though potential rivals are already known. These are Switzerland, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Northern Ireland. Who would you like to compete with?

- You know, at this stage there are no weak rivals. After all, I don't like to guess… That's who I don't want to meet, so it's the Portuguese. A year and a half ago we played control matches with them, and we had the opportunity to make sure that they are a very capable team.