Oleksandr Petrakov: “Our group in the Euro qualification looks like an elite round quartet”

08.11.2019 18:03

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

The head coach of the youth U-17 national team of Ukraine Oleksandr Petrakov expects a difficult tournament.

The youth national team of Ukraine (football players not older than 2003) has started work on preparation for qualifying matches of Euro-2020 (U-17). Oleksandr Petrakov, the manager of the blue-yellow team, spoke about the upcoming competitions to be held in Portugal.

- Oleksandr Vasyliovych, or all the strongest football players you were able to request a collection this time?

- Unfortunately no. Our main goalkeeper Timur Puzankov was injured and did not have time to recover. Anton Bol, who will play in the spring, was also injured.

- Describe future rivals. The blue-yellows will play the first match against the Georgian national team ...

- This is a very strong opponent. Georgians are betting big on this age. The team has been working together for several years. This academy is funded halfway between UEFA and the Georgian federation. They are played, technical. So it will be very difficult to deal with this opponent.

- Then your wards will meet with Albania.

- An interesting team. Albanians are progressing. The vast majority of teams play in the lower divisions of the Italian championship, so they can not be weak a priori.

- And at the end…

- I don't think it is necessary to represent Portugal once again - not to mention that it is the host of the tournament. Our qualifying group reminds me of an elite round quartet. Therefore, it will be very interesting to test your strength, and my wards understand this perfectly.

- Do the last matches and tournaments give you reason for optimism?

- This will be shown by the qualifying matches themselves, because in the last two friendly matches I could not see the full potential of my team. First, the national team of Ukraine was not the optimal composition, and secondly, the opponent in the face of the Armenian team was not the highest level.

- The main thing is not to win the group, but to advance to the next round?

- Of course, we want to get to the elite round, and as for a specific place, we will discuss it within the team. I do not want to say anything specific now.

- Out of 13 groups, 10 have already completed the competition. Are there any sensations?

- No. Everyone who had to get to the elite round did it.

In the Euro 2020 qualifying round (U-17), the national team of Ukraine will play against Georgia (November 13), Albania (16th) and Portugal (19th). The two strongest teams of each of the 13 groups and the four best teams that will take the third places (according to the results of meetings with the two leaders of their group) will go to the elite round. Matches of this stage will take place in March 2020.

In the elite round, all participants will be divided into eight groups. The winners of the groups and the seven best second teams (according to the results of the matches with the first and third teams of their group) will reach the final stage, where they will join the host of Euro - Estonia. The final tournament will take place in May 2020.