Ukraine national team coach Oleksandr Petrakov has confirmed that it is not possible to agree on a pre-match test match with Scotland, so the team will play a two-sided match.

– Alexander Vasilyevich, apparently, the Ukrainian team will no longer be able to discuss the last week of preparations for the match with the Scots. Why did this happen?

– Yes, unfortunately there will be no control game. We could not find an opponent suitable for preparation and ready to play on the dates we need – 22-23 or 26 May. First of all, I would like to point out that the UAF, together with UEFA, has carried out a huge work on sparring without exaggeration. At a time when the club championships are coming to an end and the national teams have not yet assembled, it is extremely difficult to find a sparring partner with the Scots who is suitable to make the tactical plan for the game. I know UEFA came to most of the famous clubs in Europe with offers to fight but they refused on their terms. We originally agreed to a friendly match with the Democratic Republic of Congo on 26 May, but the Africans refused at the last moment for reasons only they knew.

– Were there other options?

– There was an opportunity to play with two clubs in Segunda, but I think fighting these teams, I have the utmost respect for them. Playing in Foggy Albion, plus moving there – here – everything is very tiring … An offer came from the Lithuanian team to play a match with them, but on an artificial field, it may interfere with us. Malta were ready to play, but that is too late for us given the recovery before 27-28 May and the challenge in Scotland. Another option appeared with Venezuela, but by that time I had decided that a two-way game would be better, in which almost all of our players would get a 90-minute workload, which is simply impossible to achieve in a control match. So there were options, but for some reason they did not suit us. As a coach, this is my decision.

– So, there will be sparring, but internal …

Yes, it makes more sense now. We will divide the national team into two teams, we will play in the training center of the Slovenian Football Federation, where we have been preparing for more than three weeks, on a field we already know, without unnecessary travel and climate change. . Currently, this is the only viable option.

– Will the responsibility and attitude in the two-sided match be the same as in the test match?

– Quite a bit. The guys will get 90 minutes of game load, that’s what we need now. They are all focused and know what they are preparing for. Of course, it was necessary to train with another team, but I emphasize once again that it is very difficult for the national team to find an opponent in this period. We are grateful to UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin, who gave us the opportunity to prepare in perfect conditions during the difficult times of the war. We are working hard and we will approach the game fully prepared.