The Ukraine national team is slowly completing its preparations for the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup play-off qualifiers against Scotland. Oleksandr Petrakov, the leadership of Ukrainian football in difficult conditions and the head coach of the “blue-yellows”, managed to organize the meeting of the national team in Slovenia and organize three friendly matches against Borussia Mönchengladbach (2: 1), Empoli (3:1) . 1) and “Rijeki” (1:1).

The fact that Ukraine did not lose in three matches certainly adds some enthusiasm on the eve of the key battle with Scotland and hopefully Wales. However, there is also a “fly in ointment” in the current situation – in particular, the UAF bosses did not manage to engage in at least one more sparring with the British on the eve of the match for the “blue-yellows”. . At first there were rumors of two matches against unnamed African teams, then there were rumors of possible training against DR Congo, but eventually technical problems and the head coach’s decision led to a complete rejection of friendly matches until June. 1, when Ukraine had to play against Scotland.

Petrakov’s decision was the key to the last aspect that the national team coach focused his attention on after actually speaking to the press service.

“There was an opportunity to play with two Segunda clubs, but I think with these teams, with all due respect to them, it won’t do us any good, and now we have to go to hot Spain when we have to play. In Foggy Albion, plus moving there – here – everything is exhausting… An offer came from the Lithuanian team to play a match with them, but on an artificial pitch that could interfere with us. Malta was ready to play, but it was too late for us, given the recovery before 27-28 May and the fight in Scotland. Another option with Venezuela appeared came out, but by then I had decided that a two-way game would be better, where almost all of our players would get a 90-minute workload, which is impossible to achieve in a control match. So there were options, but for some reason they just didn’t suit us. This is me as a coach. It’s my decision,” he said.

Thus, the national team coach once again served as the main cover for his employer, the UAF. If the duel with Scotland is unsuccessful, it is precisely he who will be the main culprit of the vast majority – Alexander Vasilyevich Petrakov. But that’s how it is by nature, and he doesn’t plan to change at 64, as he has repeatedly admitted.

UAV

Let’s remember that Petrakov originally came to the national team and made such a lightning rod tactic a reality. After the extremely unsuccessful start of the Blue-Yellows in the 2022 World Cup qualifying round and Andriy Shevchenko’s unexpected departure from the team’s head coach post due to the “sudden” and “unforeseen” contract expiration, the UAF and its management found themselves in an extremely vulnerable position. In the current situation, the organization has failed to invite a top specialist, and despite his victory with the youth team at the U-20 World Championship in Poland, he was the one the UAF had previously underestimated to some extent. 2019, who agreed to give the shoulder to Andriy Pavelko.

In particular, at least two interesting episodes from the previous relationship between Petrakov and the UAF bosses should not be forgotten. After the victory of the youth team of Ukraine at the World Championship in Poland, rumors arose that even before the start of that tournament, they wanted to remove Alexander Vasilyevich by replacing him with another specialist. But if such information is to be treated with a reasonable amount of skepticism, what happened at the Ukraine’s Football Stars ceremony in December 2019 did not arouse suspicion that Petrakov was offended by the UAF. And after all, there was a reason, it was Andriy Shevchenko who managed to lead the national team to the Euro 2020 finals, and not he, who has since been recognized as the Coach of the Year. The latter outweighed the title obtained by Petrakov, and a special nomination was invented for Alexander Vasilyevich, literally “on his knees” – “Best Trainer of Junior Teams”. Accepting the award, the mentor spoke clearly with the organizers – read, UAF: “It is good that I received this award. It’s nice that they showed up at the last moment.

It seems that after this episode Petrakov must have forgotten about some serious “promotions”, but he still had a chance to work at the highest level. Even as an actor. And de facto with the “gun in the temple”, that is, without the right to make mistakes. However, Petrakov pulled the Ukrainian team into the playoffs and actually acted as a lightning rod for the UAF. The coach took full responsibility and solved the problem, simultaneously signing a full-fledged contract.

It is impossible not to recall a rather sharp situation when Petrakov suddenly “killed” one of the leaders of the national team, Ruslan Malinovsky, without calling for significant fights with Finland and Bosnia. Later, domestic journalists and fans “washed the bones” of the head coach of the national team for several weeks, but Petrakov endured everything, took responsibility for himself and returned Ruslan to the team after a month and a half. The situation at that time once again proved that Malinovsky really suffered from a recession, possibly associated with some kind of psychological breakdown, and therefore the difficult decision of the national coach could have contributed to the return of the midfielder to his “sanity”.

As a result, on the eve of important fights, Petrakov several times acted as a lightning rod, first for the UAF, and then for most of his wards. Of course, his mentor acted consciously, realizing that he was risking everything in his career. But risk is a noble thing, and Alexander Vasilyevich each time managed to get more than he could hypothetically lose. The coach literally attracted all the criticism of the press and fans, which allowed the officials to relax and calmly prepare the players to solve the problems on the field. When the national team reached the playoffs, they again spoke very modestly about the role of Petrakov – they say that somewhere they were lucky, somewhere you should thank France for not stopping playing, despite the lack of sports ambitions … It may be so, but Alexander Vasilyevich has already passed it – only “Best Coach of Junior Teams”, where the stars are Sikan, Bulets, Supryaga, Bondar, Lunin, Konoplya and others, but not him, but only after the victory at the World Youth Championship.

Now, with the height of football tension nearly reaching its climax, Petrakov is revealing himself again. It deliberately removes the problem of organizing and conducting the UAF in preparation for the 2022 World Cup play-off qualification, taking full responsibility and even allowing vague statements that it has already scolded from journalists.

There is a suspicion that Petrakov is used to doing just that: in one place he seems too strict, somewhere too relaxed, and somewhere completely reckless. But so far, this lightning rod tactic has brought him success, and the Ukrainian team – the result. Why would Alexander Vasilyevich change at another crucial moment, especially when there is already enough tension in the team? Again, like a sponge, she absorbs all negativity and criticism, hoping at the right time that her tolerance and determination will be rewarded as she deserves.