Ruslan Rotan: "We should note the character of the boys, their desire to win and qualify for the Euros"

27.09.2022 22:11

Photo of UAF press service

The head coach of the youth national team of Ukraine, Ruslan Rotan, commented on the crushing victory over Slovakia (3:0), which gave our team access to Euro-2023 (U-21).

"In the second half, we changed our tactics a bit, while the first half didn't work out for us to some extent. But we understood sometime before the match that the transition from artificial turf, and not the latest generation, would be obvious.

Before that, we trained here for a week on such sticky fields, so after the break we physically and tactically surpassed our opponent. But I also want to thank the Slovaks - they also looked decent, they also deserved to go out. However, the strongest wins, so I congratulate us, I congratulate Ukraine. We want to dedicate this victory to our soldiers of the Armed Forces. At the installation before the match, we told the guys about it, they understood everything.

The weather affected the game. We always focus on controlling the ball, on the good condition of the field. Unfortunately, today it was not of the best quality, the ball was jumping. The field was very sticky, so it somehow prevented us from keeping the course of the match in our hands from the first minutes. But in the course of the match, we rebuilt ourselves. It is necessary to note the character of the boys, their desire to win and qualify for the Euro. Apparently, this is our main trump card today," said Ruslan Rotan in the post-match commentary for Community Sports.