Ukraine national team head coach Andrea Mald era commented on the debut call-up of forward Artem Stepanov of Dutch side "Utrecht" for the Nations League matches, noting that the striker, who leads the scoring race in the Dutch championship, will be able to help the national team. M aldera said this during a press conference, UNN reports.
There were, of course, some interesting names. Stepanov was among them; we called him up, and he is playing very well in his championship right now. He plays a lot and has plenty of match practice. We hope he will be able to help us
The coach added that there are four matches ahead, eight halves, and almost everyone will have an opportunity to play.
Additional information
Nineteen-year-old Artem Stepanov belongs to Leverkusen's "Bayer", but is playing for Dutch side "Utrecht" on loan.
In the current Eredivisie season, Stepanov has scored five goals in six rounds and became the youngest player since 2001 to score in five consecutive rounds of the Dutch championship.
After the match against "Excelsior", in which Stepanov scored another goal, journalists reminded him that a similar achievement among young footballers had previously belonged to Rafael van der Vaart. However, Stepanov unexpectedly admitted that he did not know the former star of "Ajax", "Real Madrid", "Tottenham", "Hamburg" and the Netherlands national team.
"I don't know such a player," Stepanov said.
After that, the Ukrainian was told about van der Vaart, who in 2001, when he was 18, scored in seven consecutive Dutch championship matches.
"Then I will try to break this record," the Ukrainian added.
Recently, van der Vaart reacted to Stepanov's words, saying that they had not hurt his pride.
"Time flies quickly; I am already 43. My son barely saw me play, and he is twenty. I would not advise him to watch my old videos, because he will never become that good," the Dutchman jokingly replied.
He added that, for "Utrecht", he is truly a top-class striker, and that it is a pleasure to watch him.
"I consider him a very good and interesting footballer. On the pitch, he is truly a very noticeable figure," van der Vaart added.
Reminder
Ukraine national team head coach Andrea M aldera announced the squad of the senior team that will prepare for the 2026/2027 Nations League matches against Hungary and Georgia.