When We Expected a Game Without a Result and Got a Result Without a Game: Ukraine's National Team at Euro 2020

Why the defeat to England is not a failure, and why the quarter-final is Ukraine's ceiling.

Leaving a major international tournament after a 0:4 defeat is, of course, depressing. But a heavy loss to a team that, before the tournament started, was at most included among the favorites... of the second wave, perhaps, somewhere behind France, Belgium and their like, cannot be encouraging by default. And it was also a defeat without character, especially next to the Swiss, who seemingly wavered under the pressure of that same France but ended up staging an impressive comeback. Or next to the purposeful workers of the Czech national team and the Hungarians, who came close to a feat in the so-called “group of death.”

Yes, on Saturday at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, the Ukrainian national team showed nothing of the sort, practically falling apart in the second half after two quick goals conceded. The other question is whether Andriy Shevchenko's players were capable of more. Probably not: against England, after a poor start with Harry Kane's goal past Heorhiy Bushchan, the Ukrainians put together one of their best spells at this Euro, with several very good transitions from defense to attack, active attempts to combine near the opponent's penalty area and, most importantly, a willingness to impose their own terms on a serious opponent.

What was missing? Class, and there is no need to look far. Naturally, in an era when hype dominates social media, television and the media, the Ukrainian national team was elevated almost to the level of serious contenders for the final, but reality said something completely different: Shevchenko's team had a minimal chance of going further in the tournament bracket. 

And the point is not even that England may not field players worth $100 million (for example, Manchester United newcomer Jadon Sancho, bought from Borussia Dortmund the day before for roughly that sum, had only six minutes played in the tournament before the match with Ukraine). The point is that England now, for the first time in many years, really looks like a team capable of winning a major international tournament. Perhaps they are not as bright as some fans would like, but they are very cohesive and know how to get results.

Ukraine, as much as we would like otherwise, is a class below, and local successful stories, such as the triumph over Portugal in the Euro qualifiers, the victory over Spain in the Nations League or the very recent draw with France, may at best cheer up fans situationally, but they do not show that Ukrainian championship players (for the most part) will keep performing miracles again and again.

Yes, there is Malinovskyi, who shone this calendar year at Atalanta, there is Zinchenko, a key player for the Champions League finalist and Premier League champion, there is Yarmolenko, who can still make a difference, and perhaps the strongest Ukrainian striker since Shevchenko in Yaremchuk. But for comparison, we can again return to Jadon Sancho, a player who by the age of 21 had scored 50 goals and made 64 assists for Dortmund, yet is only the third or fourth choice of England's head coach for the wide attacking positions.

Ukraine does not have anywhere near the squad depth that is crucial in short tournaments, so any personnel problem becomes, for the most part, unsolvable. That was also the case in the match with England, when we could not count on the help of the country's main star in 2021, Malinovskyi, or on Stepanenko, who is fundamental in terms of organizing defensive actions. Add to that the injury to Zubkov and the completely unready Tsygankov, and what is left?

Under Shevchenko, the Ukrainian national team showed that it can play modern football built on ball control and be flexible depending on the opponent, but it is certainly not wise to expect this at all times, especially at a Euro, when both the young players are nervous and the opponents are serious. Ukraine remains a mid-level team for which reaching the final stage of a European Championship is already a success, and reaching the playoffs can be considered an achievement, not to mention making it to the quarter-finals. 

There is certainly plenty to criticize about the Ukrainian national team. Take the same young players who, against the backdrop of endless talk about the chance to “sell themselves to Europe,” showed that talk of sums in the tens of millions and Italian clubs being associated with them came far too early. And the same new leaders of the national team, Zinchenko and Malinovskyi, who played very inconsistently throughout the tournament. And the same coaching staff, which, to put it mildly, did not prepare the team for the matches against the Netherlands and Austria in the best way.

Who can count Euro as a plus? Bushchan, who proved he can deliver consistently reliable performances despite the pressure of the tournament as a whole and of formidable opponents in particular. Yarmolenko, who became one of the heroes of “fantasy football” fans at this European Championship. Yaremchuk, who showed he has outgrown the level of the Belgian championship. And perhaps that is all. 

The shares of everyone else only fell in value. Including the shares of the coaching staff, which, although it allowed the national team to make the top eight in Europe for the first time, also made plenty of mistakes. And it will be all the more interesting to see what decision is made about Shevchenko, whose contract with the Ukrainian Association of Football is about to expire, based on the results of this tournament.

One final “but”: we should not forget that when the national team won, according to many of our journalists and bloggers, these were mostly the victories of his Italian assistants. And now, after the defeats, it seems only his defeat remains.

Vasyl Obaraz, special for TK Media