Jozsef SABO: “I have no complaints about the national team and Petrakov”

Former coach of Dynamo Kyiv and the Ukrainian national team, Jozsef Szabo, spoke about the performance of the “blue-yellows” in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, the future of Oleksandr Petrakov and the war with the Russian invaders.

“I have no complaints about the national team and Petrakov. I watched all the matches our team played in the training camp and playoffs. Well, it is not given to us, God does not want to help us, we cannot do anything. But our children should not be ashamed of the games they play in Scotland and Wales. In Scotland the team played a very good game. While I was still coaching, the old experts said, “Show me your middle line and I’ll tell you which team you have.”

Coming to the Wales game, our coaching staff saw and knew they were playing number two on defense and counter attacks. Pressing in the Welsh half may not have been necessary. It was worth pulling them towards you and then we would play the second point on counter attacks. Wales could have scored the second and third goals when they counterattacked but our guys looked very good. We have a team, we have young people growing up.

Every night I go to bed and cry because of the war, that this cannot happen in our case. What did we do that we were attacked? It’s very difficult to get over this. May Allah allow our soldiers to endure this, because we see what Russia is doing. I don’t know how I would act if I were a coach or a football player right now. It is very difficult, young people die, children are taken somewhere to Siberia.

Let Petrakov continue to work with the national team. I know him well, I worked with him in the Football Association. He’s good, smart. I saw that she communicated normally with all the men. So don’t touch it, we have a team, young people growing day by day. It’s very hard to get over the fact that we didn’t make it to the World Cup, I understand. But we have to live, win the war with Russia, and drive them to Siberia, not Moscow,” he said.