Winning against Slovakia, Ukrainian players cried and no longer 'invited' the coach out for a private meeting

To reach Germany to compete, the Ukrainian team had to go through a difficult journey. Zinchenko and his teammates did not play convincingly in the qualifying round and had to play a play-off against Iceland. More importantly, the Ukrainian team did not play at home and had to “borrow” the field to compete in Poland. Although rated higher than their opponents, the Ukrainian team also “broke a sweat” to be able to win 2-1.

Entering the first match at EURO 2024, Ukraine was expected to have an easy victory when only having to meet Romania - the team rated the lowest in Group E. But the shock came, the Ukrainian team lost 3-0 in a completely deadlocked match. The Ukrainian players collapsed after the match, the fans also silently left one after another. Perhaps, everyone understood that the ticket to the next round was much narrower when they still had Slovakia and the Belgian team in front of them.

Ukraine shockingly lost the opening match against the weakest opponent in group E - Romania

According to German media, after the match, coach Serhiy Rebrov was even "invited" out by the Ukrainian players for a private team meeting. Although upset, coach Serhiy Rebrov quickly accepted this request. The 50-year-old coach sadly shared: "An unexpected result. Before the match, I told the players that they were representing the country. But today we did not do well enough, we all have to apologize to the fans. In the next match, if we do not show our full potential, the situation will be very difficult."

Facing Slovakia in the second match - the opponent who just defeated Belgium, Ukraine continued to receive a painful blow in the first half. Ivan Schranz received a pass from his teammate on the left wing, scoring his second goal at EURO 2024. The spirit of the Ukrainian players was once again affected, the ball gradually lost rhythm and errors continued to appear.

Coach Serhiy Rebrov received a lot of criticism from fans and players.

Not letting the scenario of the match against Romania repeat itself, the Ukrainian team came back strongly in the second half. The yellow team continuously "bombarded" the opponent's goal and 2 goals from Mykola Shaparenko and Roman Yaremchuk made the fans at Dusseldorf Arena explode. The opportunity to continue has opened up, the right to self-determination will also be in the hands of Zinchenko and his teammates. More notably, this is the first time they have won a match at a major tournament since reaching the round of 16 of EURO 2020.

Referee Michael Oliver blew the final whistle, and the Ukrainian players burst into tears. They hugged each other and formed a circle in the middle of the field to celebrate. Yaremchuk led the Ukrainian players to the stands. He then continued to cry and hug the fans for nearly 20 minutes. Witnessing the red scene, high-ranking officials of Ukrainian football, including the legend Andriy Shevchenko, were also moved.

Roman Yaremchuk scored the winning goal in the match 2-1

And then there was the sobbing.

"It was a difficult season for me: injuries, changing clubs, the country went through many events. But I'm still here, working and trying every day. I'm proud to be a Ukrainian player. The whole team couldn't hold back their tears with this victory," Roman Yaremchuk shared.

Ukrainian players hug each other after the match

It's all very emotional.

Ukrainian fans are of course very satisfied.

Oleksandr Zinchenko breathed a sigh of relief after Ukraine's victory. "Even when we were 1-0 down, we kept pushing each other to run. We tried to score. The Ukrainian team suffered pain after pain. The victory made everyone burst out," he said.

Coach Serhiy Rebrov was probably one of the happiest people on the field. He was also hugged tightly by the players, completely different from the previous match. Coach Serhiy Rebrov and the players still have a huge challenge in front of them, the Belgian team. However, the team spirit is very high and Coach Serhiy Rebrov also promised that the Ukrainian team will give everything they have in the "survival" match.

“I am very grateful to all the players who played bravely today. They deserved this victory and I am the happiest person. Now we have three points, the chance to go through is still there. Today, it was a very important victory for the country and the fans. I am sure they are very proud of the players. . Of course Ukraine must focus on the next match, which is the final against us,” coach Serhiy Rebrov said after the match.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thang-doi-slovakia-cau-thu-ukraine-khoc-nuc-no-khong-con-moi-hlv-ra-ngoai-de-hop-rieng-185240622010347409.htm