Our main team has qualified for the European Championship for the third time in a row.
We’re at the Euro!
It seems that there is nothing unexpected in this, the team did what it had to do, and in general, Ukraine’s participation in the continental championship will not surprise anyone, however, there is certainly something solemn and festive in reaching the final part of the tournament in Germany . At the moment of the final whistle of Clement Turpin, we were ready to forgive the team everything: not the most confident games with Malta in the group stage of the qualifying, valid matches that destroyed many nerve cells of Ukrainian fans, torment in Bosnia and the first half with Iceland.
When the goal has already been achieved, the path to it does not seem so important, but it is unlikely that you opened this material in order to read something in the style of “the result is on the scoreboard” or “winners are not judged,” so let’s still talk regarding the decisive game with Iceland, and regarding our path to Euro 2024 in general.
The opening 30 minutes smelled like a Bosnian scenario
The first half hour of yesterday’s match was frankly disappointing. After the semi-final in Bosnia, I wanted to believe that in the match with Iceland everything would be different. We will take control of the ball and the game from the opening minutes, we will not allow the opponent to act according to their scenario and we will not give even the slightest hope that this team can play with us on equal terms.
But at the opening of the meeting we had to quickly understand that our expectations were our problems. There were once more two absolutely identical teams on the field, and anything might happen in their battle. And in such chaos and uncertainty, unfortunately, Ukraine once more turned out to be a victim.
Why do we have to skip to start playing?
Gudmundsson’s goal came essentially out of nowhere. The man simply received the ball in front of the penalty area, then, like children, he twisted all three central midfielders of the Ukrainian national team, especially young Vladimir Brazhko, and struck beautifully just under the post. A gorgeous ball that, under other circumstances, we would definitely have enjoyed. In order to cover the opponent’s shots from 20-25 meters, the blue-yellows generally have big problems in this selection: here I remember two shots from Thorsteinsson yesterday, following which Lunin had to work seriously, and Saka’s goal in the very first match with England, and Elmas ball in Macedonia.
But because of this goal, Ukraine finally started playing football. Having taken the lead, the Icelanders decided that they no longer needed the ball, and in the first half they did not approach our goal once more. Rebrov’s team, in turn, not only increased the statistics of possession and passes, but quite easily passed through the central zone and tried to come up with something in the third. It was successful once: Sudakov threw to Tsygankov, who passed it to Yaremchuk on an empty net and Roman missed, but before that the Girona winger was offside.
There were also plenty of problems ahead: forward Yaremchuk still might not find a common language with either Tsygankov on the right flank or with Mudryk on the left, Malinovsky was not as effective as in Bosnia, he also put himself on an unnecessary card, Mikolenko, who had to deal a lot work on the attack, did not look like a formidable weapon in someone else’s penalty area. However, despite all this, the last 15 minutes of the first half gave hope that in the second half everything would turn out much better for us.
The team’s class showed itself at the right time like never before
The Ukrainian team started the second half even more fun. His first five minutes were pure pleasure: we closed the Icelanders in the final third of the field and did not let them raise their heads for some time. And then the Vikings made perhaps their biggest mistake of the game. Seeing that Ukraine was flying forward in large numbers, the guests decided to play open football with us and try to catch us on a counterattack. But in this exchange, the opponents clearly made a mistake.
After several minutes of attack-to-attack play, Sudakov quickly threw the ball to Tsygankova’s flank, where only one opponent remained in Viktor’s path. The leader of the blue-and-yellows, who had recovered from an injury, played as if he was not there: he calmly dragged the ball along the penalty line and fired into the far corner – 1:1.
Inspired by the goal, Ukraine attacked by inertia for a few more minutes, but then the game moved into a calmer direction. Despite the fact that Rebrov’s team did not force events, its football gave a feeling of some kind of calm and even confidence that we would score our second goal. Although, for the sake of fairness, they might have missed Zabarny following the cut, but, fortunately, it turned out okay. The second goal was the result of a good combination with quick decision-making: Tsygankov on Sudakov, Sudakov on Mudrik, an instant shot – and it’s 2:1. There was nothing supernatural in the Chelsea winger’s strike, but everything was done so dynamically that the opposing goalkeeper did not even have time to adjust his position and did not have much of a chance to save his team. After the goal in the 84th minute, maintaining the advantage until the final whistle was a matter of technique, and it turned out to be enough to kill the remaining playing time without unnecessary fires and nerves. We are at the Euros, and although it was very difficult, it was absolutely deserved.
Thank you all and see you in Germany
It is very difficult to unequivocally evaluate this qualifying cycle, but at the end of it there are still more positive impressions than negative ones. A young and renewed team, even compared to qualifying for the previous major tournament, entered the Euro with new characters in the leading roles. Sudakov, Mudrik, Konoplya, Brazhko – just six months ago these people either did not dream of the national team, or were just taking their first steps in it, but today it is simply impossible to imagine without them, with the possible exception of Vladimir the main team of the country.
Today the national team consists of a bunch of bright individuals, and Sergei Rebrov did not have one qualifying round to mold them into a team, where each of these bright personalities is subordinated to a single style that is equally understandable to everyone. However, despite this, the task was completed, which once once more speaks of the truly high quality of our players.
Thanks to Viktor Tsygankov, who, even with his knee taped up, found a moment for himself and realized it, thanks to Mikhail Mudrik, who for this qualification really became more psychologically mature, moderated his egoism and several times demonstrated a real desire to fight for the team and his highest potential, thanks to our to the new dispatcher Sudakov, leader Zinchenko, pillar of defense Zabarny, thanks to everyone involved in this result in at least some way.
Well, why not thank Sergei Rebrov, who became only the second coach in the history of our team who managed to lead the team to the first major tournament following his appointment. And even if nine official matches were not enough to create a powerful dream team capable of winning on class and without unnecessary nerves, work in this direction continues and will certainly bear fruit over time. Now we are looking forward to the performance of one of the best Ukrainian teams in its history at Euro 2024, where in a group with Belgium, Slovakia and Romania we have every chance of making it to the playoffs.
Mikhail Tsiruk specially for XSPORT.ua
