Yevhen Makarenko: "In the starting five minutes of both halves we lacked concentration"

04.07.2021 14:00

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

Midfielder of the national team of Ukraine Yevhen Makarenko shared his thoughts after the failure in the quarterfinals of Euro 2020.

Blue-yellows completed his performance at the European Championships, losing to England in the quarterfinals (0: 4). After the game, the national team midfielder Yevhen Makarenko commented on the defeat.

"From the first minutes there was nervousness, some pressure, because this is a rather late stage of the tournament, the opponent is a top-level team. To miss from such an opponent in the first minutes… Such commands do not forgive.

After the first goal we started to enter the game, we were on the ball, we had some initiative, there were prerequisites for good attacks. Unfortunately, it was not possible to score. In the first and second halves in the first five minutes we lacked concentration, we missed goals. The third ball was fatal. After him, England, staffed with high-class footballers, withdrew and played for the score.

As for my substitution, I wanted to help the team with a score of 0: 4. It was hard, the guys looked depressed. It's not for me to evaluate my game, there are experts. What he managed, he helped.

The guys are very upset, so no one wanted to leave the tournament. The bill is too high to depart at this stage. After the match, the coaches thanked us for the work we started, which we started in mid-May. They said that we should be proud of the results and the game they showed at Euro 2020, ”Makarenko summed up.