After the decision, coach grants Benfica star's wish | OneFootball

It’s confirmed: Georgiy Sudakov will play and will represent Ukraine in the qualifying match against Azerbaijan. Following the events that have marked the life of the Benfica athlete in recent days, some doubts were raised regarding the condition and focus of the number 10.

However, according to what Jornal Record has learned, the creative midfielder, signed from Shakhtar Donetsk, feels focused and prepared and, for this reason, Serhiy Rebrov, in his view, will start the Ukrainian in the starting eleven against the Azerbaijani team, which, just yesterday, September 8, dismissed Fernando Santos from the technical command.

After traveling with the Ukrainian squad, the number 10 returns to the starting lineup and, against Azerbaijan, will try to ‘erase’ the performance he had against France, where he was the target of several criticisms due to his defensive passivity that led to the French counterattack, which culminated in Michael Olise’s goal.

The same source reveals that Anatoliy Trubin, who was the starting goalkeeper for Ukraine in the match against the French, will once again be in Rebrov’s starting eleven, this time against Azerbaijan. After the initial 2-0 defeat, the Eastern European team will try to earn their first points in the qualification phase for the 2026 World Cup.

This season, Georgiy Sudakov – valued at 32 million euros – has played, so far, 10 matches: five in the Europa League qualifying phase, three in the National Championship, and two in the Conference League pre-qualifiers. In the 763 minutes he has been on the pitch, the midfielder has provided two assists.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.