The new coach of the Ukrainian national team has appointed a Shakhtar legend as his assistant
Andrea Maldera, head coach of the Ukrainian national team, has officially announced the names of the staff members who have joined his revamped coaching staff for the "Blue and Yellows."
This was reported by the UAF’s official YouTube channel.
The Italian coach’s new team has been joined by respected Ukrainian veterans and an experienced foreign analyst.
The Italian has invited two former Ukrainian national team players to join his staff. They are former Dnipro and other club defender Volodymyr Yezerskyi and former captain of Donetsk’s Shakhtar Taras Stepanenko.
Both defenders were once the backbone of the national team and enjoy immense respect among the players.
Prior to their appointment to the coaching staff, only Yezersky had been out of work. Last year, he concluded his tenure with Ukraine’s youth national teams.
For many years, the Ukrainian worked as an assistant and head coach for teams in various age categories—from U-16 to U-21. Yezersky also served as an assistant to the head coaches of Dnipro, Oleksandriya, and Lviv’s Karpaty.
Meanwhile, Stepanenko returned to the Ukrainian league on March 1 from Turkey’s Eyüpspor. He signed a six-month contract with Kolos Kovalevka.
The veteran managed to play four matches for the “Farmers” while simultaneously preparing to begin his full-time coaching career.
The third assistant is his compatriot Pasquale Catalano. Finally, in early May, Catalano finished in the middle of the Italian Serie D standings at the helm of Fidelis Andria.
The 54-year-old specialist took the helm of the Apulian side in January.
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