The national team of Ukraine returned to Riga after the victory in Skopje over North Macedonia. The forward of the national team, Ivan Tkachenko, was met by his wife and daughter outside the hotel, so the mood after the second consecutive victory in the July game window became even better. Ivan told the press service of the FBU about the meeting with Macedonians and the preparations before the crucial game with Spaniards.

- What are your impressions of the match against North Macedonia?

- We started well, we scored, there were good throws. Sviat scored a couple of hard ones, but as I understand, he scores like that, so everything is fine. The ball moved well at the start, but at the end of the second quarter, we started throwing after the first pick-and-roll but did not finish the set until the end. We got more determined, we thought that if we score everything in the first quarter, then we will continue to score.

In this match, the main thing was not to look at this opponent as an outsider. To step out energised in order to get prepared for the match against Spain with positive thoughts. It is clear, that Macedonians were released, because they had nothing to lose.

- You have recently debuted in the national team and are already regularly getting playing time. Do you already have more confidence as a player of the National team?

- The confidence came not even in terms of the game, but in the context of the feeling of the team. Now I belong to the team, we have a great microclimate, due to which I am not afraid of taking initiative.

- How did you react to the result of the match between Georgia and Spain?

- Yes, the result is unexpected, probably Spaniards themselves did not expect it. It's okay, now we have to beat Spaniards. After the victory over Georgians, we have already calmed down and now we should get fully concentrated on Spaniards, because it is very important for us to snatch this victory, and with a certain precedence.

- The first match against the Spaniards was special. What was the most memorable about that game in Córdoba, which took place on February 24.

- The first thing I remember was my mother’s call at 4 o'clock in the morning. Parents always wake up so early and I didn't think anything bad had happened. Then the wife called and said that the war had started. I remember that match very dimly. I remember my first free throw and only the applause of the Spanish fans after the match. Everything flashed by very quickly.

- The composition of Spaniards has not changed much compared to the match in February. How should you play against them in order to win?

- As the coach said yet before the first match, they would take everything we would give them. We gave them a lot of freedom, they scored everything. Especially since we played on their site, and there they scored all the shots that we left open. It is necessary to impose a struggle, put pressure on them and fight.

We have all needed power for this match and, due to the fact that we have a very friendly team, we were not fed up with each other during this month. We are all positive and can train together for another month.