Diplomacy

Netherlands vs Ukraine. UEFA EURO 2020

13 Jun, 2021

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Ukraine take on Netherlands in UEFA EURO 2020 Group C in Amsterdam on Sunday 13 June at 21:00 CET.

There is not a single participant in the European Championship that is not spoken about in football circles. However, there is a lot of talk about the Netherlands; a lot of interesting things are connected with this team. This is the unexpected departure of Ronald Koeman, and the precarious position of his successor Frank de Boer, and injuries of several leading players, and the persona of Memphis Depay. This team is not expected to win the tournament, but they are not considered as an ordinary inconspicuous participant in Euro.

They also talked about Ukraine, but not about football, but about organisational matters. It got to the point that before each match of the European Championship the UEFA delegate will check the uniform of each player of the Ukrainian national team for the presence of certain stripes on it. Will this interfere with the mood for the match? Will Ukraine be able to cope with the pressure of expectations? We'll find out soon.

Ukraine is not what it was a few years ago. Not only in terms of game drawing, but also in terms of psychology. This is a team that is able to fight and achieve results with big teams like France, Spain, Germany or the Netherlands.

Previously, the Netherlands and Ukraine have met each other twice. The statistics for the â€œukrainiansâ€ are not very pleasant: a 0:3 defeat in 2008 and a 1:1 draw in 2010. It is noteworthy that both fights were friendly. At the official level, the Ukrainians will play with Netherlands for the first time. So far, the author of the only goal against the Netherlands in the Ukrainian national team is Aleksandr Aliyev

The main task for the team is to go through the group stage. We understand that we will have to play against very strong teams and that the Netherlands are one of the favourites. We have our own principles which we abide by. So we might have an opportunity to play 4-3-3 or, for example, 3-5-2.
Andriy Shevchenko, Ukraine coach

The match against the Netherlands will be the first for Andriy Shevchenko at a major tournament in the status of head coach. He is taking a young and daring team with the stars of Atalanta and Manchester City to the first major tournament in his coaching career.