Andriy Yarmolenko: We understood that we only needed a victory, but we didn't want to lose it

17.06.2021 21:03

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

Together with Andriy Shevchenko participation in the post-match press conference after the game with North Macedonia at Euro 2020 - 2:1 , took the midfielder of the national team of Ukraine Andriy Yarmolenko.

- What happened in the second half, why did the team have a certain decline?

- This is the European Championship, there are no weak teams here. During the break, the coaching staff warned us that the opponent would now run forward, because they had nothing to lose. The Macedonians made us defend ourselves, made us nervous. We understood that we only needed a victory, but we did not want to lose it. Both the guys and the coaching staff were all worried, but it's good that we managed to keep the victory. Congratulations to all our fans with this result.

- Are you a team leader, how do you feel in this role?

- I missed football, I sat in reserve at the club for almost a year, healing injuries. I have already started to be written off. This motivated me, and I purposefully prepared myself for the national team. I did a great job, came to the location of the team even earlier than needed, here again did a lot of work with all the guys. I want to play, I want to show quality football. This requires a lot of work.

I do not want to say that now I have everything fine. When you don't play for a long time, you have to play three or four matches to feel the game again, to regain your shape. I hope I will add with each match. Thanks to the coaching staff for the trust, I try to give my all on the field.

- Did you feel the support of the fans today?

- Yes, we felt it, I want to thank the fans who supported us at the stadium. This victory is for all Ukrainians! Today we can celebrate, and tomorrow we will start preparing for the next game.