The Ukrainian national football team made a comeback and defeated North Macedonia in the qualifying match for Euro 2024 – 3:2. The Ukrainians lost the first half 0:2, but scored three goals after the break.
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These are the first points scored by Ukraine in the Euro 2024 qualifying. The next match the team will play against Malta on Monday 19 June.
Did we look like Barcelona against an amateur club? So the player of the North Macedonia national team Enis Bardi was skeptical about the level of Ukraine’s game in the qualifying match for Euro 2024.
At the same time, Bardi also criticized the North Macedonia national team and stated that they lost primarily because of the mentality. Bardi himself scored one goal in the match – converted a penalty in the first half.
Each of us must change our mentality. We lack focus and concentration. Just for a moment we erred in the field, and then we let everything fall apart. After this match, each of us needs to think a lot about ourselves and, first of all, find a way to correct our personal mistakes. Everyone needs to understand what happened and why, and how to improve themselves. There must be self-criticism,” said Bardi.
The player compared the North Macedonia national team with Barcelona, which played an hour of the match against an amateur team.
“The defeat was due to the mentality. We kept a big football Ukraine in a bottle for an hour. For 60 minutes on the pitch we looked like Barcelona against an amateur club. And then there was a problem. We conceded one goal, and then there was an incredible decline, a psychological breakdown,” Bardi said.
The reaction of the players of the Ukrainian national team to the strong-willed victory over North Macedonia in the selection for Euro 2024 was positive. In the comments of “Public Sport” immediately after the game in Skopje, the Ukrainians noted the weak first and strong second half of the game in Skopje.
This goal is happiness for me, – defender Ilya Zabarny commented on his debut goal for Ukraine and a strong-willed victory.
Never doubt me, as midfielder Mykhailo Mudryk told how he scored for the first time for the Ukrainian national team.
I made an effort and refreshed the game,” said Yefim Konoplya, who scored the first goal in his career for the Ukrainian national team.
We understood that we were playing poorly, so the captain of the national team Andriy Yarmolenko appreciated the strong-willed victory of Ukraine and the changes in the game during the break.
Head coach of the Ukrainians Sergei Rebrov believes that the team reacted to the events in the match “as needed.”
I think that there is not enough time to prepare for this match. But in the second half it was a different game. I am grateful to the players that they understood our game model better. I think we worked harder in the second half. What did he say during the break? A lot of. It is important that the players decided for themselves that it was impossible to play the way they did in the first half. Or the most nervous victory? No: there were such people in Dynamo, in the UAE. I think it is very important to react to what is happening on the field. We reacted properly, and therefore such a result, – said Rebrov at the post-match press conference.
The next match the Ukrainian team will play against Malta on Monday, June 19. This will be the third qualifying match for Euro 2024. The Ukrainians have three points after two matches.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.