Before the visit to Reykjavik, the Ukrainian team pressed the Icelanders from the second place in Group I, and now will try to defend the positions won on Saturday in the windswept stadium "Laigardalsvladur". In the last round, Haymyr Hadlgrimsson's team unexpectedly stumbled in Finland (0: 1), while Andrei Shevchenko's wards in Kharkov confidently defeated the Turks (2-0), in excellent spirits approaching the next World Cup qualifier 2018. "Success is good, but if we play poorly in Iceland, it will devalue our victory," the blue-yellow mentor rightly observes.. - Therefore, now the most important thing for us is to calm down, leave the victory over Turkey behind the ". Judging by the fact that the same opinion is expressed by the players, the work on emotions has turned into one of the key aspects of preparing Ukrainians for a duel. Of course, along with the restoration of physical condition. "We, in principle, have not yet decided anything, which means we need to quickly recover and move on," says Andrei Yarmolenko, who scored both goals at the gates of the Turks. "We did not celebrate much. Quietly reacted to Saturday's victory, without euphoria, - Taras Stepanenko echoed him. - Everyone understands that the task has not been solved yet ". The minimal advantage in points over Iceland, it would seem, allows blue-and-yellow to agree in Reykjavik and on a draw, however Shevchenko adjusts its players only to win. "I think that our guys are more masterful, besides, now they are all in good shape," he adds, not hiding that he is not going to be satisfied with the second place in the group. At least because the two-point lag from the now leading Croatia is not such an insurmountable distance. With the fact that Ukraine will meet with her in Kyiv. "The most important thing is to be in time to recover, which is not a problem for a professional," said 35-year-old Ruslan Rotan, the oldest and most experienced of the September blue-yellow draft. "But everyone must look after himself". He understands this and only starting his career in the national team Ruslan Malinovsky. "Andrei Nikolaevich quickly returned us to working condition," he says.. - He sets the task, as in the match with Turkey, not to give the opponent a chance. Although Icelanders will try to dominate, because at home they have beaten all. True, we also have our own game plan ". After an intensive and rather expensive Kharkov match in Reykjavik, the coach's headquarters of Shevchenko will certainly resort to a number of substitutions. Most likely, in the middle line, instead of Rotan and Viktor Kovalenko, who gave a lot of power, the recovered after the angina Denis Garmash and Sergei Sidorchuk. In addition to freshness, both Dynamo are good at horse and power wrestling, which is very important in a duel with athletic powerful Icelanders. It is worth to wait for castling and in the center of defense, where on the spot of Sergei Krivtsov is expected the appearance of the departed disqualification Yaroslav Rakitsky. As for the hosts, they were left without the flank midfielder Rurik Gislason. He was urgently replaced by ramming striker Vidar Kjartansson, which further clarifies the coaching idea. "In a match with Ukraine, everyone will see the real Iceland!" - promises its chief scorer Gulfi Sugurdsson, who scored 15 goals for the national team. "This game is extremely important for us," says the coach of the Icelanders, incidentally puzzling over how to restore the wards. "Not only that we lost in Tampere, so also we spent too much energy," complains Hadlgrimsson.

- After the victory, it would be easier to cope with fatigue, but the defeat aggravates everything ". Be a rival team of Ukraine some other team, the Icelandic saga, perhaps, and pityed to the tears of the coach guests. But Shevchenko not only heard about the unyielding spirit of the islanders, but also knew him personally, even if he won the "Leygardalsvedlure" (1: 0) in September 1999. And because, appealing to the coldness of the mind of the wards, he does not tire of repeating: "Calm, only calm!".