Euro-2024. Ukraine lost to England at Wembley in the qualifying opener

26.03.2023 20:58

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

The national team of Ukraine held the opening match in the Euro-2024 qualifiers, and this match was the jubilee for the main team of the country, the 300th in history.

The blue-and-yellows team met for the first time in six months, since the time of the Nations League. Our national team began its journey in Euro-2024 qualifying with a game against England at Wembley in the presence of about 85 XNUMX fans, more than XNUMX XNUMX of whom were visiting fans. It should be noted that the islanders have already started in Group C with a victory over Italy (2:1).

The Ukrainian team was led to the famous arena by caretaker head coach Ruslan Rotan, who is also the coach of the Ukraine U-XNUMX team. Even before the trip to England, our national team was left without Riznyk, Zubkov and Konoplya, later Zabarnyi was dropped, and Popov and Yarmolenko were also not included in the application for the game. Rotan fielded a starting line-up with debutant Svatok in defense and Sudakov in midfield, while Malinovskyi filled the role of right winger.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

The game started at a measured pace, the Ukrainians got to Pickford's goal several times, but they did not threaten his goal. Once, Yaremchuk ran out on his own, but the referee found the attacker offside. In turn, the English tried to attack through the wings, looking for Kane and his partners in the penalty area. So, in the 20th minute, the captain of "Three Lions" forced Trubin to react for the first time. Later, Harry failed to close the passes properly several times, while he was often caught offside.

However, the hosts systematically seized the initiative, while the Ukrainians were forced to play mainly without the ball and defend themselves. In the 37th minute, the defense of the blue-and-yellow team did fail: Kane transferred from deep to the right wing, Saka completed the pass, and Harry himself left no chance to Trubin. Quite quickly, the British doubled their advantage - Saka broke free from the face near the penalty line and curled it into the far corner. 2:0.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

Kane then had another chance, but Trubin parried his shot from an acute angle. The Ukrainians responded with Mudryk's inaccurate long shot. In general, during the first half, our national team did not hit the target once.

After the break, the situation almost did not change, and the hosts played, pushing back from the score. At the same time, the blue-and-yellow team regularly made mistakes, which resulted, in particular, in Maddison's missed shot from the entrance to the penalty area and Saka's dangerous cross, etc.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

Rotan made a triple replacement and rebuilt the scheme, but this did not bring significant changes. Until the end of the meeting, both teams practically did not create moments, although in the 87th minute, Trubin saved the visitors twice. We also note Maguire's shot over the crossbar after a corner in stoppage time and Trubin's save after a dangerous shot by Grealish. As a result, England celebrated a victory with a score of 2:0, while the Ukrainians will try to rectify the situation already in June.

Euro-2024. Qualifying tournament. Group C

2 round

England — Ukraine — 2:0 (2:0)

Goals: Kane (37), Saka (40).

England: Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Chilwell, Bellingham (Gallagher, 85), Henderson, Rice, Saka, Kane (c) (Towney, 81), Maddison (Grealish, 85).

Substitutions: Ramsdale, Forster, Trippier, Gehey, Dyer, Phillips.

Trainer: Gareth Southgate.

Ukraine: Trubin, Karavaev (Buyalskyi, 61), Svatok, Matvienko, Mykolenko (Sobol, 61), Sudakov, Stepanenko (Konoplyanka, 90), Zinchenko (k), Malinovskyi, Yaremchuk (Dovbyk, 74), Mudryk (Tsygankov, 61).

Substitutions: Lunin, Shevchenko, Sarapiy, Sydorchuk, Miroshnichenko, Bondarenko, Pikhalyonok.

Trainer: Ruslan Rotan.

Referee: Serdar Gezyubyuk (Netherlands).

Booked: Malinowski (69).

March 26th. London. "Wembley". 83 viewers.

Malta — Italy (21.45)

Standings

3 round

16.06.2023

Malta — England (21.45)

North Macedonia - Ukraine (21.45)