Oleksandr Petrakov: "It is interesting and useful to participate in the UEFA Development Cup"

27.04.2019 13:05

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

The task of winning future competitions at any cost in front of the U-16 Ukraine national football team (players not older than 2003) will not stand in Israel.

On the eve of the beginning training process Ukraine's U-16 coach Oleksandr Petrakov spoke about the team's upcoming plans.

— Alexander Vasilyevich, compared to the last gathering now in in the team new players have appeared. Continue searching for talent?

- Exactly. But not everything is so smooth. This age in Ukraine is still weak. However, we will hope that the guys will add.

- In your list there are three football players who play in Europe at once ...

- The guys represent good clubs, but for me they are still a complete mystery. I did not see them in the case. Let's see how they will behave now.

- Is the UEFA Development Cup a serious tournament?

"Of course." These competitions have long been held under the auspices of UEFA. And now teams from other confederations have begun to be involved in them. The tournament is held according to interesting rules. In particular, the referee, in addition to the yellow and red cards, also has a green card, after which the player is removed from the field for eight minutes. Mandatory condition - any performer must play in the competition for at least 80 minutes. And, for example, after the main time, a series of penalties is immediately scored by a draw, the winner of which receives two points, and the loser - one. That's why the name is a development tournament. By the way, with the national team of Ukraine born in 1999, we took second place in these competitions.

— Now will you set the wards to win?

- Any team wants to win the competition, whether they are official or friendly. But given all the amendments to the rules of the game and our somewhat experimental composition, the question of the ruble before the team will not be.

— Dynamo players are not on the list «

- I went to meet them when the people of Kyiv asked not to call their players. There are no problems.

— For you this is another test of the capabilities of football players before qualifying for the European Championship?

- Of course. But I will not blame my soul - the main preparations will begin with the Victor Bannikov Memorial, which will take place in late August. There I plan to involve all the best.