Nine players of the Ukrainian National team at once debuted at EuroBasket! Among the debutants are three “Prometey” players - Illia Sydorov, Ivan Tkachenko and Issuf Sanon.

Four-time Superleague champion Illia Sydorov shared his impressions of the first game for the National basketball team at a major tournament.

- Illia, the first match of the National team of Ukraine has been played. Confident victory over the Great Britain team. What, do you think, made it possible to win with such a score?

- This is an important victory for us to start this tournament well. I think we managed to win because we started the match very aggressively. In the first minutes, as the Americans say, we sent the message that we are going to win this game. I guess, this was the key to victory for us.

- We are playing the second match against the Estonian team. I'm sure you watched the match between Estonia and Italy. What are the strengths of Estonians? What should you pay attention to?

- Yes, we watched this game. First of all, this is a team that throughs an unlimited number of three-pointers. From all positions. All players are set up for a throw. Therefore, I suppose, a lot will depend on how we build our defence. Everyone thinks that Estonia is not a basketball country. However, 5-7 Estonian basketball players play at a good level. So, it will be an examination for us. However, I believe that we must win, play 100% to win this match.

- This summer, the National team worked almost all the time. What shape are you in now? How are you feeling?

- Everything is excellent. We prepared well. The last two games of qualification for the World Cup came out kind of smudged. But I believe that everyone came to the European Championship with different thoughts. Everyone is charged for victory, for giving our country some positive emotions and to fight only for victory.

- How special is your personal debut at EuroBasket for you personally? What kind of emotions you had when you realized that you are in the team and a big tournament is ahead?

-It is very interesting. No disrespect to them, but this National team does not have top level players. When I left the locker room yesterday, there was the Greek National team preparing for their match. It's like getting into Euroleague TV. All these people... Even apart from Jannis, Kostas Slukas, Papanikolaou, all of them are players we've watched on TV for years. Now we have an opportunity to play with them, it's very exciting, I'm very happy to be here and I'll try to do my best.

- In addition to strong opponents, in our group we have basketball players, who it will be interesting to play against. Everyone is talking about Jannis, but there are interesting players in the back lines. Maybe you can highlight someone?

- Only Jannis comes to mind now. But this is a bit not my position. I don't think we will cross our paths with him. However, if we are talking about Greece, Kostas Sloukas is a legend of the Euroleague. This is also a very interesting opponent for me.

- If t look forward, everyone tentatively understands how to stop Jannis. But few people succeed in this. What do you think should be done to minimize his strengths on the court?

- Oleksiy Len said how it could be done. I think there should be as competent defence as possible, to stop his fast break, when he runs, nobody can do anything to him. It will be necessary to try to make Greece play in a positional attack. But we still have games before the game with Greeks. I believe that if we beat Estonia today, we have a very good chance of advance into playoffs today. Of course, everything depends on how the other teams play with each other, but victory over Estonians will be a big help for us.

- We have the first match behind. There is a lot to do ahead. In particular, the game against Estonia. What would you like to say to the fans who will certainly watch the match today, cheering up for the National team?

-Yesterday, I received a lot of feedback about our victory. People are watching, cheering. I thank them all very much for this. We will try to please even more today and in the next games.