© Pool via REUTERS
Struggle for a direct ticket to the EURO 2020 quarterfinals. That was the price of the clash between Ukraine and Austria in Group C. On the 21st minute of the match, having to pull the ball out of their own goal, the Ukrainians had to acknowledge the Austrians' advantage with a score of 1:0. Although defeated, Ukraine still has a chance to advance to the next stage as one of the best third-placed teams in their group, but favorable results in other groups' matches must unfold for this to happen. Ukraine's national team head coach Andriy Shevchenko commented on the reasons for the defeat: "Very tough match, especially physically. We lost individual duels and made quite a few mistakes. Looking at my players, I saw a team on the field that lacked energy. However, in the second half, the situation slightly improved, but yesterday was one of those days when nothing goes right." "And when you face such a situation sooner or later you get into trouble. We lost the battle in the middle of the field and on the flanks. Later we conceded a goal and couldn't "get back" into the game," added the coach.
