Oleg Kuznetsov: "In a few days it is difficult to bring wards to a common denominator"

28.08.2021 11:03

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

The coach of the youth national team of Ukraine U-17 Oleg Kuznetsov believes that not all his wards in the match against Belarus showed character.

After the match with the team of Belarus (2:2) at the BANNIKOV CUP tournament, the head coach of the youth national team of Ukraine Oleh Kuznetsov answered questions from the official UAF website.

- Olezhe Volodymyrovych, did you have to get nervous today?

- I think we need to make a discount here because today we played essentially a different team, replaced 10 players. In a few days it is difficult to bring the wards to a common denominator, especially considering that this is our first gathering. However, we avoided defeat and in the fight for first place in the group everything remains in our hands.

- In such matches as with Belarus, is the character of the team manifested?

"Of course." The warm-up before the game showed that the guys were "swimming" a bit. We warned the players that it would be difficult. Again, due to the fact that there was no full training, some of the players perform a little better, some a little worse, but this is a normal process, we will continue to work.

- What did you not like about the actions of the wards in the match against Belarus?

- Probably, there was less desire than in the match with Armenia. But here it is worth noting the Belarusians who played on emotions. They often fought, if necessary, acted to the limit. I did not see such a desire in our guys, there was no team. We always emphasize in the training process that on the field the team must be one.

- Could there be any relaxation after a confident victory over Armenia?

- What can be the relaxation when this is the debut training camp, the players gathered for the first time. I will repeat that in comparison with the first match we replaced practically all structure, and there could be no question of special teamwork, but again we mention character ...

- On August 29, the fate of the first place in Group A will be decided in the match Ukraine - Bulgaria. What do you think about the opponent?

- I watched Bulgaria in the match with Belarus. I do not want to offend the Belarusians and Armenians, but this team looks a little better than them. To be honest, I was surprised by the score 1: 1 in the match between Bulgaria and Armenia…