Doing our best to win
Sunday, October 14, 2018
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The Ukraine U21 captain Viktor Kovalenko shared his impressions of the game vs Scotland and the expectations of the match vs the Netherlands
- Viktor, congratulations on the important victory your team secured through their character. Now, after the emotions have subsided, could you, please, analyze the encounter?
- Thank you! We understood that it would be very difficult. But it turned out that we gave one away in the first minute and could not quite do anything initially. It’s good that Oleksandr Zubkov has scored that goal, as it reversed everything, and then we were bossing it on the pitch until we took the lead. The opponents tried to change the course of the match, but we managed to put the squeeze on them and to calm down the play through our third goal.
- As the skipper, did you have to psych up the team after you’d conceded an early one?
- We understood this: when, if not now, should we give our all and win it? We needed more points, we wanted to win it. There was no need for additional motivation from the captain or the coach. All the guys are mature and skilled football players, the professionals, and they realized the importance of the meeting.
- All three goals were scored by the Shakhtar guys: a brace by Oleksandr Zubkov plus your goal. Did you experience some pleasant emotions?
- I’m really happy for Oleksandr, but we must remember that this is the Ukraine team and there’s no division into clubs here. We all come and equally want to benefit the team.
- You’re facing the key game against the Netherlands. Will you have enough time to recover and what do you expect from the game?
- Yesterday, we had a recovery session for those who’d played the entire match against the Scots, with a test game played by the rest, so that they keep in shape. And today, we are going to the Netherlands. Frankly, it won’t be easy. Impressions of our first leg in Kyiv? The great national team, fast, with top-class performers in the squad. But we must impose our game on them and make sure they play our tune. We’ll do our best to win and we hope that we’ll be able to make it through to the Euro 2019 finals.
- Thank you! We understood that it would be very difficult. But it turned out that we gave one away in the first minute and could not quite do anything initially. It’s good that Oleksandr Zubkov has scored that goal, as it reversed everything, and then we were bossing it on the pitch until we took the lead. The opponents tried to change the course of the match, but we managed to put the squeeze on them and to calm down the play through our third goal.
- As the skipper, did you have to psych up the team after you’d conceded an early one?
- We understood this: when, if not now, should we give our all and win it? We needed more points, we wanted to win it. There was no need for additional motivation from the captain or the coach. All the guys are mature and skilled football players, the professionals, and they realized the importance of the meeting.
- All three goals were scored by the Shakhtar guys: a brace by Oleksandr Zubkov plus your goal. Did you experience some pleasant emotions?
- I’m really happy for Oleksandr, but we must remember that this is the Ukraine team and there’s no division into clubs here. We all come and equally want to benefit the team.
- You’re facing the key game against the Netherlands. Will you have enough time to recover and what do you expect from the game?
- Yesterday, we had a recovery session for those who’d played the entire match against the Scots, with a test game played by the rest, so that they keep in shape. And today, we are going to the Netherlands. Frankly, it won’t be easy. Impressions of our first leg in Kyiv? The great national team, fast, with top-class performers in the squad. But we must impose our game on them and make sure they play our tune. We’ll do our best to win and we hope that we’ll be able to make it through to the Euro 2019 finals.