National football team of Ukraine
UAF/Dan Balashov
In Tirana, at the Kombetare stadium, the match of the final sixth round of the UEFA Nations League took place, in which the Ukrainian national team faced the local national team of Albania. The match ended in victory for the “blue-yellows” with a score of 2:1.
Sergei Rebrov’s team was only satisfied with a victory in this match. Any other result would have left the Ukrainians in last place in the quartet standings, which would have sent them directly into Division C of the Nations League.
The Ukrainian national team was able to score two quick goals in the opening of the meeting: first, in the 5th minute, Alexander Zinchenko, on the rebound, spectacularly and effectively fired one-touch into the bottom left corner of Strakosha’s goal, opening the scoring.
And 5 minutes later, Roman Yaremchuk doubled our advantage with a header after a cross from Efim Konoplya.
The teams went into the break with the score 2:0 in favor of the Ukrainians, and in the parallel match the Czech Republic beat Georgia with the same numbers on the scoreboard. And with this development of events, Rebrov’s team rose to second place in the group’s online table and immediately allowed the fans to dream of a promotion.
However, the intrigue, which was alive before, intensified even more when the Georgians scored against the Czechs. The Albanians, who were not happy with this course of events, also moved forward, and in the 74th minute it became alarming: Trubin fouled Uzuni in the penalty area, for which the referee awarded a penalty.
Bajrami approached the penalty mark and moved the goalkeeper and the ball to different angles. The final 15 minutes were incredibly tense, but the Ukrainian team maintained the advantage and won the most important match of the current season of the Nations League.
League of Nations. Group stage, round 6
November 19. Tirana, “Kombetare”
Albania – Ukraine – 1:2
Goals: Bayrami, 75, pen – Zinchenko, 5, Yaremchuk,
Georgia lost to the Czech Republic (1:2) in a parallel match, so the Ukrainian team took the final second place in the group standings and will play in the transition playoffs of the tournament in March 2025. The opponent of Rebrov’s team will be determined later. Albania was directly relegated to division C.
