Ukraine, featuring Trubin and Sudakov, names first foreign head coach

Benfica players Trubin and Sudakov will now play under a new national team coach. Italian Andrea Maldera, formerly an assistant to Roberto De Zerbi, currently at Tottenham, has been officially appointed as the new head coach of Ukraine, becoming the first foreign manager in the nation's history.

This marks Maldera's inaugural experience as a head coach for a senior team. He steps into the role vacated by Serhiy Rebrov, who departed in April after the team failed to qualify for the World Cup.

It's worth noting that Maldera has a prior history with the Ukrainian national team, having served as Andriy Shevchenko's assistant for five years, from 2016 to 2021. Shevchenko, now president of the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF), elaborated on the choice of the new coach.

"Andrea Maldera is an Italian with a Ukrainian soul. He worked with our national team for five years," Shevchenko stated, adding: "Andrea has experience working with top coaches and clubs, achieving results. It's important that Maldera now has ambitions as a head coach. Most importantly, he understands how to work with the national team."

Before taking on this new challenge, Andrea Maldera worked as an assistant to Roberto De Zerbi, currently the Tottenham manager, during their stints at Brighton & Hove Albion and Marseille.