Kucher: The team wants to win
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
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The defender of Shakhtar and Ukraine national team reflects on the game against the Icelanders
- Of course we wanted to win, so the outcome is not the best. We had a desire to claim the three points and to please Andriy Mykolayovych in his debut match. We could have won it as we had chances. But this is football – it’s beautiful because different things can happen.
- Whose fault is the goal conceded?
- We did not keep the line, I did not see the player. Probably, it was necessary to prompt that to me, and I would have dropped deep. We made a collective mistake that continued curiosity: the ball hit me in the face and bounced right onto a striker’s foot.
- Before the match we thought that the Icelanders have a lower pain threshold: they kick around, not sparing themselves and others. How was it in challenges?
- You can find a way against any team. That’s their style of play: After the ball goes out of bounds or after the goal kicks, they impose challenges upon us nearer to the penalty area and try to catch a deflected ball. I would not say that the Icelanders play it dirty. This is men's football, which is available, and you need to play against them.
- What was the game plan? To drop deeper or try to put pressure on Iceland?
- No, of course not to park the bus. We had to mark them because we knew that at the slightest pressure, the opponents would shoot the ball upfield to the strikers. The Icelanders do not play it that much, they just make long passes and impose the fight in front.
- Who is the current leader of Ukraine national team?
- All the guys well know one another. We do not have any specific individuals we would play for, or we would highlight. There is a squad and just one team. We take to the pitch and fight for each other. The team wants to win, and we will do it. We will try in the following games to fulfil the goal of making it to the World Cup.
- Whose fault is the goal conceded?
- We did not keep the line, I did not see the player. Probably, it was necessary to prompt that to me, and I would have dropped deep. We made a collective mistake that continued curiosity: the ball hit me in the face and bounced right onto a striker’s foot.
- Before the match we thought that the Icelanders have a lower pain threshold: they kick around, not sparing themselves and others. How was it in challenges?
- You can find a way against any team. That’s their style of play: After the ball goes out of bounds or after the goal kicks, they impose challenges upon us nearer to the penalty area and try to catch a deflected ball. I would not say that the Icelanders play it dirty. This is men's football, which is available, and you need to play against them.
- What was the game plan? To drop deeper or try to put pressure on Iceland?
- No, of course not to park the bus. We had to mark them because we knew that at the slightest pressure, the opponents would shoot the ball upfield to the strikers. The Icelanders do not play it that much, they just make long passes and impose the fight in front.
- Who is the current leader of Ukraine national team?
- All the guys well know one another. We do not have any specific individuals we would play for, or we would highlight. There is a squad and just one team. We take to the pitch and fight for each other. The team wants to win, and we will do it. We will try in the following games to fulfil the goal of making it to the World Cup.