The bigman of the national team of Ukraine Viacheslav Petrov spoke about the mood in the team on the eve of the qualification match for the 2023 World Cup against the current winners of the Spanish team trophy.

"For us, the game against Spain will be very important not only in terms of basketball, because everyone understands what is happening in our country, how difficult times are for our citizens. I want to give them some positiveness, first of all.

As for team chemistry, everything is fine in the national team, the mood is great and we are approaching the match in optimal condition.

Of course, we are constantly discussing what is happening in Ukraine. However, we love basketball because when you go out on the court, everything is forgotten and we do our best for our favorite thing to do. We try to think less about the tense situation, because many players’ families and parents are in danger. So we try to distract ourselves from that and focus on preparing for the match.

Everyone knows that the Spaniards play fast basketball, with a quick switching from defense to attack. The main goal is to stop them. I cannot say that there is anything incredible in their game, but the Spanish league is one of the strongest and no matter which line-up comes, the players will always be at a high level.

Tactically, we are preparing for this match a little differently, and in terms of the training process compared to the last game window, everything remained unchanged".