Former coach of Dynamo Kiev Jozsef Szabo Italy admits he is considering Genoa midfielder Ruslan Malinovsky One of the best Ukrainian players this season.

“Ruslan Malinovsky seems to have found a second young man after his injury. This man has a clear head, making great passes is not difficult for a midfielder.”

Largely thanks to Malinovsky’s effective play, the Ukrainian national team managed to qualify for the play-offs in the 2026 World Cup qualifying tournament,” says Szabo.

Malinovsky played 19 matches for Genoa this season, scoring 2 goals and making 3 assists. The 32-year-old midfielder’s club managed to get out of the relegation zone by collecting 19 points and rose to 15th place in the rankings.

Ruslan scored three goals and made one assist in the three matches the Ukrainian national team played in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Recently it became known that the striker of the Ukrainian national team. Artem Dovbik Our player, who was away from the field for a long time due to his serious injury, will not be able to take part in the decisive matches of our main squad in the fight for a ticket to the 2026 World Cup.

Former forward of the Ukrainian national team Ivan Getsko In the conversation with the Sport.ua correspondent, how noticeable the absence of the Italian Roma player will be in the matches to be played in Spain at the end of March.

– I will not dramatize the situation. In March, the Ukrainian national team will, at best, play two important matches, and the attacking players at the disposal of coach Sergei Rebrov should be sufficient. After all, ours are often used to working with one player in the foreground, especially since Dovbik is not one of the irreplaceable players. Moreover, it is not of much use to our main team due to constant health problems. Artem is a player who will increase the competition between forwards.

– What can we do to hopefully avoid injury to attackers who remain on the move?

– You know, it is important that Roman Yaremchuk and Vladislav Vanat are versatile players, which allows the coaching staff not to be limited in the choice of tactical plans. But I repeat, playing with two strikers is out of the question.

As a last resort, it will be possible to use Alexey Gutsulyak, who once played in the centre-back position in Karpaty, up front. If you remember that he is very lucky, especially in national team matches: then the ball will hit his head and fall into the net, in another case he will take advantage of the ricochet and hit the target from close range.

– And couldn’t Sergei Rebrov replace Dovbik with the young Dynamo player Matvey Ponomarenko, who came into public view at the end of the first part of the season in the UPL?

– Don’t think. Ponomarenko is a promising man, but nothing more. The play-offs, where the ticket to the world forum is at stake, are on a completely different level. Matvey still needs to study and study.

It was previously reported that the Ukrainian striker of Roma “Roma” Artem Dovbik will have to undergo surgery.

Roma’s Ukrainian striker Artem Dovbik According to Il Tempo, he will have to undergo surgery.

It turned out that the injury the 28-year-old striker received in the match against Lecce in the 19th round of the Italian Serie A was more serious than expected. After new tests, Roma and the player decided to undergo surgery to remove the musculotendinous lesion on the left thigh.

Therefore, Dovbik will probably not be able to help the Ukrainian national team in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The striker is unlikely to recover for the match against the Swedish national team on March 26.

Dovbik was injured in the match between Lecce and Roma in the 19th round of Serie A on January 6. Artem scored in the 71st minute, setting the final score of the match (2:0), and left the field due to injury in the 86th minute.

Artem played 13 matches for Wolves in the Italian Championship this season, scoring 3 goals and making 1 assist.