The coach of the national team answered journalists' questions before the important game.
Head coach of the Ukrainian national team Serhiy Rebrov gave a press conference on the eve of the match of the 3rd round of the group stage of the League of Nations of the 2024/25 season against the Georgian team.
The coach of the “blue-yellows” answered journalists' questions regarding preparations for the upcoming match and the debutants of the national team.
“It is very important for us to have competition in every position. If someone gets injured, we try to find a replacement among the candidates for the national team or among the players from the reserve list. It is important to have at least two players per position. I believe that the players who have been called up and who have been called up really deserve it. There are many new players, but in the training process I do not see that they are lost somewhere or do not do something. Not only the training process is very important, but also how they show themselves in the game. We give a chance to all players.
We lost the first two matches. Of course, we must show a different level, a different belief in the result. If we talk about the Nations League, it replaced friendly matches, when it was easier for coaches to check candidates. Now these games are official. The players understand that every match at the national team level is a big event for our country. In the next two matches, we cannot only talk about the result, but also about desire, perseverance, how we play for the country. For me, the Nations League is more preparation for the qualification. But, of course, this tournament also gives a chance to get into the playoffs of the World Cup qualifiers.
I can't say that we didn't want to win the previous two matches. If you remember the game against the Czech Republic, we made 20 shots on goal, and not just controlled the ball. For example, we analyzed the Euro matches, when teams shot 15-16 times and won. Unfortunately, we lost, but we tried to win. Yes, we lost two matches, but we are looking forward. Of course, tomorrow we will try to win the match against Georgia, to show our level,” the official UAF website quotes Rebrov as saying.
It was previously reported that Rebrov explained, why he didn’t call Yarmolenko up to the Ukrainian national team for the October Nations League matches.
The Ukraine vs. Georgia match will take place on Friday, October 11, in the Polish city of Poznan at the Enea Arena stadium. The starting whistle will sound at 21:45 Kyiv time.
The online text broadcast of the Ukraine vs. Georgia match is available on our website.
We remind you that in the 2024/25 Nations League season, the Ukrainian national team is playing in Division B, where its opponents are the Czech Republic, Georgia and Albania. In the opening rounds, the Ukrainians suffered defeats from Albania (1:2) and the Czech Republic (2:3), so they are in last place in their group, without scoring a single point.
Georgia, on the contrary, began the tournament with victories over the Czechs (4:1) and Albanians (1:0). Willy Sagnol's team leads the quartet with 6 points. Albania and the Czech Republic are next, with 3 points each.
It should be noted that in the 4th round of the League of Nations, the Ukrainian team will play the Czech Republic on October 14 in Wroclaw, and Georgia will host Albania on the same day.