Ukraine vs. Belgium: Euro 2024 Match Recap
On June 26th, a match of the third round of Group E of Euro 2024 took place in Stuttgart between the national teams of Ukraine and Belgium. The game ended in a bold goalless draw. In a parallel match, Romania and Slovakia played to a 1-1 draw. Ukraine took the fourth place in the group and was eliminated from the tournament.
Jozsef Sabo Analyzes Ukrainian Team’s Performance
Former coach of Kyiv’s «Dynamo» and the Ukrainian national team, Jozsef Sabo, explained the reasons for the Ukrainian team’s failures at Euro 2024.
«At such tournaments, there is no time for warm-up, you have to perform at your best right away, demonstrating your best qualities from the first seconds. And I see the absence of a leader on the field, who could lead the team, be responsible for the result, initiate and take risks when needed.
I can’t find an answer to the question of why our national team only starts creating chances in the second half?! Perhaps the coaches know the answer, but they are not ready to voice it yet. Euro 2024 showed that, despite the compliments received, we lack players in attack who can stand at this level. Scoring opportunities were hard to come by, players like Shaparenko, Sudakov, and Dovbyk couldn’t meet the demands of the Belgians.
Before the Euro, the press mentioned that this could be the strongest national team in the history of Ukraine. But what did we see? The main lineup, if it existed in the minds of the coaches, could not reflect itself on the field. Attempts to find optimal combinations during the tournament in Germany did not bring the desired result — the matches go one after another, and time for correction is minimal.
Unfortunately, the result corresponds to our game demonstrated by our team,» Sabo said.
