Ukraine national team and Italian "Bologna" forward Artem Dovbyk rejected accusations that he does not want to play for the national team, stating that he has a minor injury and therefore is still training individually, reports UNN.
Details
On September 16, Ukraine national team head coach Andrea Maldera announced the Ukraine squad for the Nations League matches, which included, in particular, "Bologna" forward Artem Dovbyk.
However, the following day it became known that, due to injuries, Italian "Bologna" forward Artem Dovbyk and Zhytomyr "Polissya" midfielder Oleksandr Andrievskyi withdrew from the Ukraine football team squad.
Instead, Maldera called up two footballers from the reserve list: "Dynamo" midfielder Oleksandr Pikhalyonok and "Polissya" forward Ihor Krasnopir.
At the same time, on September 21, "Bologna" announced that Artem Dovbyk had returned to training with the team.
The Italian publication Corriere dello Sport reported today that Dovbyk had declined the call-up to the Ukraine national team.
In a comment to Tribuna.com, the Ukrainian said that the information that he was already training fully with the team was not entirely accurate.
Three days before the game against Torino, we spoke with Maldera because I had missed the game against Napoli. I explained to him what injury I had and said that I was preparing for the match against "Torino" and for the national team. But during the training session before the match, I tried to train with the team and realized that it was still too early. I called him and explained that I needed about another week to be fully ready. We jointly decided that I should heal the injury 100% and only then return. It is the back of the thigh. It is a different injury, not a recurrence as was written. Over the last few days, I have already started training with the team, but for now I only take part in the warm-up, and then work individually. Therefore, the information that I am already training fully with the team is not entirely accurate
Recall
Ukraine national team forward Artem Dovbyk will spend next season with Italian "Roma", having moved there on loan from Rome's "Roma".