Sergiy Nagornyak: It is difficult to overestimate the benefits of sparring with Belgium

29.09.2019 16:02

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

The head coach of the youth national team of Ukraine U-16 (players not older than 2004 born) Serhiy Nagornyak told about the work done at the last training camp.

After the training camp of the youth national team of Ukraine U-16, which played two friendly matches with Belgian peers, the head coach of the blue-yellows Serhiy Nagornyak summed up the results of his visit to Belgium.

- Serhiy Mykolayovych, how useful was the last collection for your wards?

- The usefulness of these sparring is difficult to overestimate. It was a great experience for our guys. Thanks to UAF, we were able to test ourselves against one of the best national teams in Europe, and they saw what to strive for.

In the first match we are played a draw, in the other - lost, but despite that, our players in the second half proved to be the best side, sometimes outplaying the opponent.

- What are the most positive moments you would note in the game of your wards?

- I hope they understood that in matches at this level you can't relax for a second. With the help of videos, we got acquainted with the Belgian national team to some extent, but in reality this information gave almost nothing, because the Belgians act differently every time. And it is very important that our players were able to rebuild. Dynamo and Shakhtar players, who have never faced such pressure in their careers, were mostly involved in the national team. But again, I was pleased that our guys were not confused. Yes, there were enough mistakes, but their character was high, and the result is not the main thing.

- Do you already see the backbone of this team?

- There are performers we want to count on in the future, but at this age the players are so unstable that it makes no sense to think far ahead.

- When is your team's next training camp?

- We plan to start the final stage of preparation this year on October 16, and on the 19th and 21st to play two away friendly matches with the Georgian national team. At this meeting we want to see the case of several new players.