Oleksandr Golovko: “It is too early to call this team the youth team of Ukraine”

17.11.2018 12:02

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

The head coach of the youth team of Ukraine Oleksandr Golovko summed up friendly match against the Georgia teamwhich ended with a 3: 3 score:

- This team gathered only five days ago, so it is not worth calling it a full-fledged youth national team of Ukraine yet. I would like to emphasize this, because the composition was determined from the letter, and the opponent was very worthy of us. Having gathered football players for five days, it is impossible to demand that they beat everyone. Well done guys, tried ...

For us, this is a selection gathering of players born in 1998. It is still necessary to strengthen the position of the central defender, the supporting midfielder. But we deliberately went for it, because there is almost no time to create a team. Soon the New Year, then spring, and the boys born in 1999 are now preparing for the World Cup and will join us in just a couple of months.

As for the match with the Georgians, I have no complaints about the guys due to my dedication and desire to fight.

- It seems that the match was not quite a commodityIschim: six goals, two seizures ...

- Friendly, only with a great desire for both teams to win. Although there were no rudeness. Our player was very worried, he is a newcomer to the national team. He arrived, scored the ball, and then immediately received a red card. Emotionally, everything worked out for him.

- You have been preparing for this game for five days. Did you manage to fulfill the plan?

- Absolutely not. We just put performers on the field and focused on "standards". Everything else is what they play in clubs, we studied their playing abilities in the selection process. The more such matches, the better. Then more guys will go through the team, after which we will form a new team.

- Do these players have motivation to win?

- Yes, everyone prepared responsibly. The guys listened carefully to the theory, trained, there are no complaints about them. I also thank the Georgian national team for coming to visit us. Thanks to this game there is good material for analysis. We would not have received such material in the control match with the Ukrainian team. Those who were willing to endure will be with us next year.

- Andriy Shevchenko, calling several young players to the national team, said that this is a big advance for them. Will there be such an advance for other performers?

- So far, probably not. Because until the spring there will be only a meeting, while everyone goes on vacation. The boys born in 1998 are in the national team: Mykolenko, Shaparenko, the same Lunin in 1999.

We are still proceeding from what is. The selection gathering was held on the solid four. We accept the result as it is. We have now assembled a new team and will be trying to make a new youth team for it.