EnglishVictory of the national team
Thursday, March 20, 2025
|
The Ukraine national team hosted Belgium in the first 2024/25 UEFA Nations League play-off match
Shakhtar had the largest club representation of 3 players in the squad of the Blue-and-Yellows: the starting line-up included right-back Yukhym Konoplia, central defender Mykola Matviienko with the captain’s armband, and midfielder Heorhii Sudakov.
The meeting began with dangerous moments from the Ukrainians – the shots by Tsyhankov and Yaremchuk were saved by Courtois, then Sudakov made a promising throw-in in the direction of Tsyhankov, but Viktor narrowly missed it. Lukaku was active near the opposite goal: in one of the episodes Matviienko prevented him from scoring, in another Lunin saved the attempt of the forward of the Belgian team. In the middle of the half, Konoplia was injured and replaced by Sych. And yet, the visiting team managed to open the scoring shortly before the break: in the 40th minute, Lukaku headed De Bruyne’s free kick home.
The Belgians started more actively in the second half, and Lunin had to save the Blue-and-Yellows twice after dangerous shots by De Bruyne. However, the Ukrainians gradually levelled the game, and Serhii Rebrov’s substitutions changed the course of the match. In the 66th minute, Oleksii Hutsuliak, who appeared on the field a little earlier, dispossessed the opponent’s defender of the ball and equalised the score with a shot into the near corner – 1-1. In the 73rd minute, after Tsyhankov’s cross from the right wing, another fresh player, Vladyslav Vanat, shot past Courtois and gave the lead to the Ukraine national team – 2-1. And the final score was set in the 79th minute: Sudakov made a corner kick to Zinchenko, who put a cross to the goalmouth, where Illia Zabarnyi finished the combination with a one-touch shot – 3-1. Sudakov and Vanat had chances to secure a crushing victory, but they did not manage to convert their opportunities. And in the 88th minute, another Miner Yehor Nazaryna appeared on the field and helped the team keep the desired result.
3-1 – the Ukraine national team defeated Belgium and strongly claim to advance to the UEFA Nations League A. The teams will meet in the second leg in Genk, Belgium, on March 23. The game will kick off at 21:45 Kyiv time.
The meeting began with dangerous moments from the Ukrainians – the shots by Tsyhankov and Yaremchuk were saved by Courtois, then Sudakov made a promising throw-in in the direction of Tsyhankov, but Viktor narrowly missed it. Lukaku was active near the opposite goal: in one of the episodes Matviienko prevented him from scoring, in another Lunin saved the attempt of the forward of the Belgian team. In the middle of the half, Konoplia was injured and replaced by Sych. And yet, the visiting team managed to open the scoring shortly before the break: in the 40th minute, Lukaku headed De Bruyne’s free kick home.
The Belgians started more actively in the second half, and Lunin had to save the Blue-and-Yellows twice after dangerous shots by De Bruyne. However, the Ukrainians gradually levelled the game, and Serhii Rebrov’s substitutions changed the course of the match. In the 66th minute, Oleksii Hutsuliak, who appeared on the field a little earlier, dispossessed the opponent’s defender of the ball and equalised the score with a shot into the near corner – 1-1. In the 73rd minute, after Tsyhankov’s cross from the right wing, another fresh player, Vladyslav Vanat, shot past Courtois and gave the lead to the Ukraine national team – 2-1. And the final score was set in the 79th minute: Sudakov made a corner kick to Zinchenko, who put a cross to the goalmouth, where Illia Zabarnyi finished the combination with a one-touch shot – 3-1. Sudakov and Vanat had chances to secure a crushing victory, but they did not manage to convert their opportunities. And in the 88th minute, another Miner Yehor Nazaryna appeared on the field and helped the team keep the desired result.
3-1 – the Ukraine national team defeated Belgium and strongly claim to advance to the UEFA Nations League A. The teams will meet in the second leg in Genk, Belgium, on March 23. The game will kick off at 21:45 Kyiv time.