Head coach of the Ukrainian team Andrei Shevchenko talked to journalists on the eve of an open training session at the NSC Olympic.

"Paolo Maldini's visit? This is a private visit.. He is not associated with football. Previously, we did not have the opportunity to meet and now Maldini arrived, making us a big surprise ".

"Matches against Slovakia and Turkey? These two matches are very important for us. We have long formed the composition and, as you have seen, have focused on young players. In each of them we see a perspective.. We are very interested to look at them, but it is clear that we gave them an advance. We want to give every player the opportunity to show themselves.. We understand that young people need to be given chances, although we take a certain risk, because they do not have enough experience. We want them to show their talent and help the national team to achieve a positive result ".

“Transferring the match to Turkey? This is due to the problems faced by the Federation. So decided, then it will play there. I do not see anything terrible here. There were circumstances due to which the game will take place in Turkey ".

"Bezus? Roman only recently recovered from injury, so he didn't get a call. He is one of the candidates. ".

"Swede? We believe in our youth. Viewed many games, the Swede showed himself very well in games for the youth team and his club. Perhaps we will discover the new qualities of Swede. May change his position. He has good characteristics and I know how to use it. ".

"Unmotivated players? From the first day I expressed a clear position to the players. Soccer players who receive a call to the national team must be motivated and ready to help the team. It does not matter, from the first minute, coming on as a substitute, or even sitting on the bench. With players who expect to always go out at the start, it will be very difficult to work in the future, "Shevchenko said.

On Friday, November 16, the Ukrainian team will play an away match against Slovakia in the framework of the League of Nations. November 20, the "blue-yellow" will play in the control sparring with Turkey.