Roman noted that the team will be focused on winning.
Ukrainian national team striker Roman Yaremchuk, together with the head coach of the “blue-yellows” Serhiy Rebrov, took part in a press conference on the eve of the match of the last 6th round of the group stage of the League of Nationsseason 2024/25 against Albania.
The answers of the 28-year-old forward of the national team to journalists' questions are given on the official website of the UAF.
It should be noted that at the press conference of the Ukrainian national team before the match with Albania there was an embarrassment due to the Russian language.
– How do you rate the Albanian national team? We will probably play against them as number one. How can we get through their defense, which we were not very successful at in the first match?
–We are playing away, such matches are always different from home. Albania is quite a strong team. They have a good striker, a good defensive line, and you can feel the discipline in defense. We also have enough qualified players who are capable of deciding the outcome of the match. We will focus on the fact that we need a win. Let's hope that there will be scoring chances in order to realize them. So that this has a good psychological effect on us, and each player relieves a little stress, feels confident and shows his best game.
– How well did you manage to recover after the match in Batumi on a difficult pitch?
– The pitch was the same for everyone. I don't see any problems with that. The pitch withstood the bad weather. We are all professional football players, we must recover as quickly as possible after matches.
– In the last matches, the Ukrainian national team had noticeable problems in attack, in particular, you did not score a single goal in the League of Nations. You have good players in attack, but no goals.
–Sometimes there are games when we don't score, don't create chances. But that doesn't mean that there's something wrong with our attack. Especially now, when all the opponents know that we have a good team. When Albania spends almost the entire match near its own penalty area, it's hard to find an opportunity to score. But I'm sure that our team has great potential to score goals and get results. Of course, we want to show our best football, but it happens.
– Do you feel pressure, because the Ukrainian team risks being relegated from Division B? Albania always has great support at this stadium. How do you prepare yourself psychologically for the game?
–Of course, we feel the pressure, but that's part of football. Every game is tense, especially when you play for big clubs, every time you fight for three points. Our players play in top leagues, play weekend matches at the best stadiums in Europe. I don't think that will be a problem for us. Of course, the atmosphere in the stands tomorrow may have an impact, but I hope we will be focused on the game.
See also: Addressed the families of the victims: Rebrov made a statement amid Russian strikes on Ukraine (video)
The Albania vs. Ukraine match will take place on Tuesday, November 19, at the Air Albania stadium in Tirana. The starting whistle will sound at 21:45 Kyiv time.
Text online broadcast of the Albania vs. Ukraine match is available on our website.
Ukraine national team in the 2024/25 Nations League: results and standings
The Ukrainian national team has already played five matches in the 2024/25 Nations League. Rebrov's team lost to Albania (1:2), lost to the Czech Republic (2:3), beat Georgia (1:0), drew with the Czech Republic (1:1) and drew with Georgia (1:1).
Before the last round, the Ukrainian national team with 5 points occupies the last place in its League B group, having finally lost the chances for the first line and direct access to Division A.
At the same time, the “blue-yellows” continue to claim the second position to get into the playoffs for the right to move up a class. To do this, Ukraine needs to defeat Albania and ensure that the Czech Republic does not lose to Georgia in the parallel match. A defeat by the Albanians will definitely mean relegation to Division C for our team.
It was previously reported that the head coach of the Albanian national team, Sylvinho, assessed the tournament situation before the decisive match of the League of Nations against Ukraine.