Football world’s attention turns to Leverkusen’s BayArena as Ukraine and Italy square off in a ‘do or die’ type of contest on Monday. Qualification for Euro 2024 is at stake as the two nations face each other in a nail-biting qualifying Group C’s finale.
On the eve of this crunch meeting, Ukraine head coach Serhiy Rebrov couldn’t help but raise questions about Aleksander Ceferin’s recent statement. The UEFA president stated that “Italy absolutely must participate in the European Championships,” forcing Rebrov into thinking.
“This is what the Ukrainian people have to think about, not our players who have to stay focused and ready to take the field. These words are not going to affect our game in any way,” Rebrov said, as quoted by Gianluca Di Marzio.
Anything other than three points would rule Ukraine out of automatic qualification. Despite coming into the last qualifying round level on points with second-placed Italy, Rebrov’s men lost the reverse fixture 2-1 and must turn the tables on Gli Azzurri to seal a fourth consecutive appearance at the Euro finals.
While Ceferin’s words are not far from the truth, there’s no denying the Ukrainians have every right to use them as a valid excuse to justify a potential failure. Like all other contestants, Italy must deserve their place at the tournament.
Though Luciano Spalletti’s men have worked their socks off to get in this position, everything they do on Monday is at risk of being overshadowed by Ceferin’s reckless statement.
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