Oleksandr Petrakov: “The best thing is that football players are progressing before our eyes”

22.11.2019 14:01

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

Head coach of the U-17 U-2020 national team Oleksandr Petrakov summed up the team's performance in the Euro-17 qualifying round (U-XNUMX).

The match ended a few days ago qualifications for the youth team of Ukraine (players not older than 2003 year of birth). In competition with the teams of Georgia (2-0), Albania (2-0) and Portugal (0-0), the blue and yellows took first place and made it to the elite round of these competitions, which will be held next spring. Head of the Ukrainian coach Alexander Petrakov spoke about the results of the past battles.

- Alexander Vasilyevich, with what feelings did you go to Portugal?

- Frankly, I was very worried about this tournament. But still managed to do what we planned. I can say a big thank you to the guys, my coaching staff and all the staff for their work.

- What was the most difficult part of the tournament?

- Field quality. Constant rains turned them almost into a swamp. The stadiums were somewhat neglected. Although the Portuguese themselves performed on an excellent lawn, and the rest of the teams were sent to an unknown destination. In addition, I had to get to training for more than half an hour. Probably, the Portuguese thought that we would sit down for a face-to-face game with them, and the hosts would take us warm. This is exactly what happened to the Albanians, as they arrived late in the evening before the competition.

I would like to thank the leadership of our association for the few extra training days we were given. They helped us a lot.

- The national team of Ukraine scored its goals either in the first 15 minutes of the second half or in the last 15 minutes of the game. Does this indicate a good functional condition of your wards?

- So. And here it is necessary to say a huge thank you to the clubs. The guys there are gaining these conditions. Yes, there were problems in the technical equipment, but functionally all the guys were at the same level. We have tactical work in the first place.

- Pavlo Isenko did not miss a single ball in three matches. Was the injured Timur Puzankov managed to be replaced with dignity?

- I won't say that Pavlo helped many times, but psychologically he didn't fail. He played the way we wanted him to, calmly. Well done!

- In the third match, which, in fact, did not solve anything for the national team of Ukraine (a ticket to the elite round was already in your pocket), your wards did not allow the Portuguese to score at least once (

- Because we played on equal terms, on a good lawn (smiles). We also do not sit idly by. We thoroughly studied the enemy. But the most pleasant thing is that the players of the national team of Ukraine are progressing before our eyes. There are no star players here, but there is a team. They listened to us carefully, worked and did almost everything we earned during training. Here is the result!