“God of football gave us back for our defeat in Ireland”

In the next selection match a Euro-2022 Ukraine’s women’s team defeated the Irish guests with a score of 1 0. After the match, the head coach of the Natalia Zinchenko answered questions from the press conference:

– We understood that it would be difficult. The game was decisive, either we continue to fight for second place or we lose our chances. I want to thank the girls for their character and dedication. The Irish put a lot of pressure, there were high pitches, high speeds, we lost a bit physically both in the air and from below. But we held on and scored, although a ball with errors from the defense and the goalkeeper. But the result is on the scoreboard. The most important thing now is to recover and move on.

– What were the related changes during the break? Why did Anastasia Voronina spend only 25 minutes in the second half?

– You can understand Nastya, because she was immediately thrown into that game … As you know, we have lost two left backs. Natia Pantsulaya took this position, coped with the task, but was injured. We thought about who to drop instead of her: Voronina came out. He’s been training with the national team for just two days, and somewhere he failed tactically, positionally. Okay, I understand perfectly. We made a substitution in time, because the attacks came from our left flank. Anna Petrik was enough for these 20 minutes. He recently recovered from his injury, but had enough in the allotted time. Anna is an experienced fighter, she brought the game to the end.

As for the replacement of Yana Kalinina, her game did not go well. Ireland have very tall, powerful defenders and good headshots. It was difficult for her. Nadezhda Kunina is more mobile and insolent. She also helped us and spent the entire second half almost independently under pressure. It became a little easier for us, the opponents started throwing the ball less behind their backs.

– In the away game with Ireland (2: 3), the fate of the match was also decided by an own goal. Can we say that fate has thus returned the favor?

– I don’t want to remember that fight. Then there was a completely different game. I think there is a God of football who gives something back. I consider that defeat an accident, because we have played enough for a draw. But this is football. So it is today. We didn’t have many moments, but they came up. We are responsible for the position in the classification. Once again, the situation with the girls who got sick: everything had to be rebuilt. I think our girls work honestly and deserve this result.

– For the second time in a row, the Ukraine team played zero. Was the defense prepared for Irish pressure?

– The only problem was the position of the left back. We had a simulated line of defense, in which everyone knows the requirements that are established for them. But one person flew out and it became difficult for us. As a result, this resulted in a penalty, many moments from opponents from the left flank. Thank God others did, they closed the plane.

– We know the difficult situation that developed in the selection the day before. Were you prepared for the fact that at this point you have to do the rotation?

– Yes. Starting with the men’s team, the UPL teams. There are many patients in Kharkov, where Zhilstroy-1 and Zhilstroy-2 are found. We were ready, we did tests, we added players to the roster so we could have rotation.