Volodymyr Yezersky: "We have already met with two Euro qualifiers ..."

09.12.2019 14:01

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

U-18 Ukraine U-XNUMX Head Coach Volodymyr Yezersky would like more matches for his team.

Last week happened draw of the Euro-2021 Qualifying Round (U-19), whose matches will take place from 10 to 16 October next year.

The results of this draw, as well as the results of the year for the national team of Ukraine (players not older than 2002) were commented by the head coach of the team Vladimir Yezersky.

- Vladimir Ivanovich, how do you assess the ending year for your team?

- Overall positive. The only annoyance was the performance of the elite rounds of the U-17 European Championship. But I didn't like refereeing very much at that tournament. And if you turn to the video, everyone will understand that this factor prevented our team to make it to the finals of the Euro. There are no claims to the guys, they all showed their best side.

Throughout the year, for various reasons, we were unable to bring in all the best performers in the work, but it gave impetus to other players, to whom I can only say thank you for the work.

I would also like to thank the UAF leadership for the created conditions. We have never had problems with training. I can't ignore the work of clubs that trained football players for the national team of Ukraine. Therefore, next year we look with optimism.

- Which players in 2019 were a revelation for you?

- I will not name names now, but there is a group of performers who have been almost always on the level for the last two years. The main thing is that they do not stop in development.

- Last year, your team played 10 matches. Is that enough for the team to play?

- How to look. After the qualification, which took place at the end of March, then we met in August and October, and these stages of preparation were more of a selection nature. Of course, we would like more matches and a higher level of rivals. And it is very important to have an understanding with the clubs in terms of inviting players, because by participating in national team matches, players get the best chance to progress, this is the top for every performer.

- How do you assess the results of the draw for the Euro 2021 (U-19) qualifying round?

- We have already met with the national teams of Israel and Montenegro. The Israeli team works well for the Israelis, so they are always competitive, it is not always easy with them. We beat the Montenegrins 2-0, but scored goals under the curtain of the meeting. This is also a difficult opponent, which will be difficult. And the level of the Belarusian team is still difficult for me to predict. Although I can say that our neighbors have football on the rise now. There is no favorite in our group, all national teams have an equal chance of success in this competition.