News from Ukraine camp: training at the LKS stadium in Lodz and the departure of two players

10.06.2022 22:20

Photo of UAF press service

The national team of Ukraine held an official pre-game training at the LKS arena in Lodz. In the morning after breakfast the location of the blue and yellow left Georgiy Bushchan and Taras Stepanenko, who due to injuries are not able to help the team in the final matches of June. After saying goodbye to their partners, the guys went to their clubs.

Photo by Oksana Vasilyeva

As the match with Armenia starts early (at 15 CET), the pre-game training also started a little earlier - at 17.

The good news today is the return to the general group of players of Eduard Sobol, who is already feeling better after his illness. From the bad - yesterday after arriving in Poland, Oleksandr Syrota felt ill: as it turned out, he had a fever. After receiving the necessary medical care, Oleksandr's condition improved, but today he still feels weak, so the team's doctors advised him to avoid physical activity.

Photo by Oksana Vasilyeva

Entering the field of the LKS arena, the coach of the blue and yellow did not recognize the stadium where the youth team of Ukraine U-20 under his leadership held training on the eve of the 2019 World Cup final. And there is no reason to be surprised here: the fact is that three years ago there was only one central grandstand for five thousand seats, and now - a full-fledged modern handsome stadium with a capacity of 18 thousand spectators.

Photo by Oksana Vasilyeva

The completion of the arena cost about 30 million euros, so it is expected that this purely football complex will impress with fan-friendly stands and well-thought-out infrastructure. By the way, the UAF organizing team, which was preparing the arena for the match, which has the status of a home match for Ukrainians, decorated the locker room of our team in the symbols of the national team. Therefore, the home atmosphere is created in the basement, and the arena will be filled with emotions of Ukrainian and Polish fans, who are expected to 90% of the total number of spectators.

Photo by Oksana Vasilyeva

Due to the meager difference between the game days of the Nations League, the coaching staff has only one training session that the team can conduct in full, preparing for the next game. Thus, today the head coach Oleksandr Petrakov made it clear to the boys that based on the results of this session he will determine the starting lineup for the game with Armenia.  

Photo by Oksana Vasilyeva

After completing all the tasks set in the training process, the players returned to the hotel. Today they should go to bed earlier, because tomorrow's departure to the stadium will be unusually early - right after 14 pm Kyiv time.

Oleksandr Hlyvynskyi, spokesman for the national team of Ukraine

List of players of the national team of Ukraine

Goalkeepers:  Andriy Pyatov (Shakhtar Donetsk), Dmytro Riznyk (Vorskla Poltava), Andriy Lunin (Real, Spain).

Defenders: Oleksandr Karavaev, Illia Zabarnyi, Oleksandr Syrota, Denys Popov (all - Dynamo Kyiv), Mykola Matvienko, Valeriy Bondar (both Shakhtar Donetsk), Vitalii Mykolenko (Everton, England), Eduard Sobol (Club Brugge, Belgium), Taras Kacharaba (Slavia, Czech Republic).

Midfielders: Mykhailo Mudryk (Shakhtar Donetsk), Serhiy Sydorchuk, Viktor Tsygankov, Mykola Shaparenko (all Dynamo Kyiv), Oleksandr Pikhalyonok (Dnipro-1), Andriy Yarmolenko (West Ham, England), Oleksandr Zinchenko (Manchester City, England), Ruslan Malinovskyi (Atalanta, Italy), Oleksandr Zubkov (Ferencvaros, Hungary), Danylo Ignatenko (Bordeaux, France).

Forwards: Artem Dovbyk (SC Dnipro-1), Roman Yaremchuk (Benfica, Portugal), Danylo Sikan (Hansa, Germany).