Ukraine head coach Serhiy Rebrov has praised the desire his team showed during their 0-0 draw with Germany at the Max-Morlock-Stadion in Nuremberg on Tuesday night.
Germany were firm favourites heading into the friendly match and created several opportunities on the night - recording 27 shots on goal - but ultimately, they were wasteful and were left frustrated by Ukraine.
Whilst the visitors were forced to defend for large parts of the match, they did look threatening on the counter attack with the pace of Mykhailo Mudryk, who had two promising opportunities towards the end of the first half, but he was unable to find a way past Manuel Neuer in the German goal.
Ukraine goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin made several key saves in the second half and the Ukraine defence remained resolute during Germany's periods of dominance throughout the match, as Rebrov's men produced an encouraging performance which earned them a hard-fought draw.
Ukraine have two more warm-up matches against Poland on Friday and Moldova on Tuesday, before they face Romania in their opening match of Group E at EURO 2024 13 days from now.
"This game was useful for both national teams"
Ukraine's three pre-tournament warm-up matches gives the team a chance to build chemistry and work on specific tactics ahead of the European Championships this summer.
Rebrov spoke after the game about how he felt the warm-up game in Nuremberg indeed benefited both sides in terms of getting the players closer to full fitness ahead of EURO 2024.
"The main goal is to prepare for the Euro. This game was useful for both national teams. Unfortunately, the players are not 100 percent ready right now, but we have almost two weeks of preparation ahead of us."
"We are able to play at the level of Germany"
It was a spirited performance from the Ukraine players who faced long spells of pressure from the hosts throughout the 90 minutes, and Rebrov praised the desire shown by his team whilst also insisting that the performance from his side proved that Ukraine are in fact able to play at the same level as the top teams like Germany.
Speaking after the game, Rebrov said: "I saw a great desire in the players, which is very important, they had a great desire to play in defence. Unfortunately, we had to defend a lot, but today, there was a team that understood why we can play at the level of the German national team."
Rebrov insists playing at EURO 2024 is important for Ukraine
Given all the problems Ukraine as a country have faced outside of football and the ever-increasing tensions across Europe, Rebrov admitted that he feels it will be important for Ukraine as a country to be represented at EURO 2024 this summer.
"Being represented here, at the Euro in Germany, is very good for Ukraine. We want to be part of the European community, so such a forum is of great importance for our country."
Rebrov hopes football can return to foreground in Ukraine
Despite being opponents on the night, Rebrov praised Germany as a country for their support of Ukraine during the war, and said he hopes football can return to the foreground in his country in the near future.
He said: "I believe that Germany is our most important partner during the war. I am very grateful to this country. We don't have any problems here, everyone supports us, and that's important.
"Unfortunately, football is not in the foreground in our country now. It is very important for everyone in Europe and the world to support Ukraine during the war. After all, I'm sure, very soon, football will be number one again in our country."
