Nikolay Matvienko shared his emotions about the disastrous match for the “blue-yellows”.
Captain of the Ukrainian national football team Mykola Matviyenko commented on the defeat to Belgium (0:3) in the return match of the playoff for the right to play in the elite division of the next Nations League.
“I feel devastated. Not the result, not the game we wanted. Everything didn't go as planned. When did we feel that something wasn't going according to plan? It's hard to name a specific moment. What was missing? I don't want to look for someone to blame after the game. Let's watch the video, we'll figure it out. Bad game.
I think it would have been better if we had conceded earlier and got back into the game faster. And when we conceded so late, we tried to hold on to the result, but we conceded again. This is football, what can you do?
Of course, we wanted to (to move up to Division A – ed.). No one wants to go out and lose. Next season of the Nations League we will fight the same to move up to Division A.
As I said, let's not look for someone to blame, it was very difficult for everyone today. Not the game we wanted to see,” Matvienko said on MEGOGO.
The Ukrainian national team suffered a crushing defeat to Belgium (0:3) in the return match and, on aggregate (3:4) , lost the fight for a place in the elite division of the League of Nations .
Sergey Rebrov's team will play the next Nations League in the second most prestigious Division B. The Belgian team remained in Division A.
Earlier it was reported that France and Croatia determined the semi-finalist of the League of Nations and the last opponent of the Ukrainian national team in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.