Oleksandr Petrakov: "It is better to make mistakes in sparring than in the Euro"

02.06.2018 19:06

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

Ukrainian National Team (football players not olderі 1999 birth) completed the training session that took place у Poltava and Kiev.

The head coach of the youth national team of Ukraine U-19 Oleksandr Petrakov in an interview to the official website of the FFU summed up the work, which was crowned by a performance at the tournament in memory of Valery Lobanovsky.

— Alexander Vasilyevich, how do you describe the gathering of your team?

- At first we wanted to hold one control match abroad. But the answers from other associations to our inquiries did not come. Then it was decided to do homework and speak at the Valery Lobanovsky Memorial. This is a huge help to our players in preparing for the final part of Euro 2018.

- Do defeats give mentors much more information?

"Of course." But we should not forget that we played against youth teams that are two or three years older. I also found myself in such a situation for the first time. In the opening match, against the Israelis, the guys did not understand a little what we explained to them. But the second fight gave hope, again, despite the defeat. I was not disappointed with the actions of my wards in the match against Greece. It is better to make mistakes in friendly matches than at the European Championships.

- Can you say that you played a suboptimal lineup, given the lack of someicons due to injury?

- Any coach dreams of no injuries. But I do not want to look for reasons for defeat in this. Although, of course, the potential of the national team would increase if we had Lunin, Suhar and Kashchuk. Due to the weak staff potential in the youth national teams, every football player is very important to us.

- To the European Championship, which starts on July 16, the team will fit в maximum readiness?

- I want to believe in it. In any case, after the tournament in memory of Valery Lobanovsky, we talked to footballers who seem to understand responsibility. Although the very entry into the Euro can be considered a success for Ukraine, given all the problems in domestic football.