Head coach Serhiy Rebrov has confirmed that Vitaliy Mykolenko will miss the Blue and Yellow‘s clash with Romania in his pre-match press conference. He spoke to media alongside Illia Zabarnyi.
The Everton defender was forced off in a warm-up friendly against Moldova on Tuesday and his injury will not heal in time for the match tomorrow afternoon in Munich.
What did Serhiy Rebrov say?
Embed from Getty ImagesRebrov told reporters: “The injury [Mykolenko] has doesn’t heal in one or two days. We can see how he’s working and we’ll hope he’ll be back as soon as possible.”
In terms of replacing him for this fixture, the manager added: “When you are bringing players you have to understand somebody could be injured … we are trying to do everything [to be] ready for the injury of Mykolenko.“
Looking ahead to Monday’s game, Rebrov said: “Romania have done very well of late. They have some very good young players. They are clearly a team who understand what they have at their disposal. They have very fast players, which basically got them through to EURO 2024.“
When queried about their tactics for the clash, he simply said: “I cannot tell you now how we’re going to play tomorrow. For me it doesn’t matter who we’re playing against, we don’t need to think about the future, we don’t need to think which place we want to be in the group. I think we have to concentrate on each game, we have to be very serious with any opponent we are playing.
Embed from Getty Images“For me, I don’t know why everybody says Ukraine are one of the favourites in this group. I think all the teams in this group are very strong, they deserve to be here, Romania deserve to be here because they won their group.”
The Ukraine manager also spoke about his team’s own strengths: “It’s very important that we’ve been working together for a year. I can see the players understand much better what we’re trying to get from them. We understand each other much better than in the beginning.
“With the war in our country, it gives more motivation to our players. I’m sure they are very proud of us. When you’re here to show the spirit of Ukraine, it’s very important. This tournament is really about the spirit of our country.”
He also complimented the host nation: “We love playing in Germany. We played a friendly in Bremen [in June 2023]. We see the organisation – it’s unprecedented. When we come to Germany, it always feels like we play at home.”
What did Illia Zabarnyi say?
Embed from Getty ImagesZabarnyi, who appeared alongside Rebrov, also commented on the significance of the support for his nation.
“It will be a very emotional moment for us. When you see Ukrainian flags in the stadium and you understand what’s going on at home, it’s difficult to put into words. Every day is difficult. It will be an emotional moment before kick-off, but we need to keep a cool head and give 100% tomorrow.
“I just want to say thanks to everyone who comes and supports us.”
Speaking about tomorrow’s game, the defender added: “Romania have good attacking players. They are a good, exciting team, but I think we’re ready for them.”
He also alluded to Ukraine’s strengths.
“We have a lot of quality in the squad.
“[But] I think the most important thing is that we play like a team.“
You’ll be able to see what their opponents Romania have to say, and follow all the action in the game tomorrow, here on FromTheSpot.