Taras Stepanenko: "Tomorrow there should be a little more concentration and confidence in one's own abilities..."

19.11.2023 18:19

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

Midfielder of the national team of Ukraine Taras Stepanenko took part in a press conference on the eve of the decisive match of the Euro-2024 qualification with the Italian team, together with head coach Sergey Rebrov.

— Last weekend, we saw that our players showed themselves brightly in the top championships. Does it add positivity to the team compared to previous meetings?

— It's always nice when our guys win. We follow them, send messages, congratulate them with active actions in attack or defense. It is important for them to be confident in what they are doing. When you score a goal, your team wins in championships with such intense matches - it's cool, it gives players confidence.

- Do you feel the pressure?? What's on your mind before the game??

— We have many players who played matches of this level. Everyone is mentally ready, the team has a good atmosphere. We cannot say that this match is the climax of something, as it is reported in the media. Our work throughout the year has brought us to the point where we have the opportunity to play a decisive match tomorrow. If you look at it, every match in the selection was responsible, it allowed us to move on and have the opportunity to make it to the Euro. Therefore, tomorrow is another match on our way. Every match of the group was like that, but tomorrow there should be a little more concentration and self-confidence.

— What can you say about the sparring match with Lehia, which took place the day before?

— Everyone had their playing time in this match, some played more, some played less. In principle, everyone participated, there are no problems.

We will remind you that the Euro-2024 selection match between the national teams of Ukraine and Italy will take place on November 20 in Leverkusen, Germany, at the BayArena stadium (starting at 21:45 Kyiv time).