National Teams Hall of Fame. U-19: Euro 2018 bronze

07.05.2020 17:23

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

Recent successes of Ukrainian teams, in particular, of the national team - in the Nations League і European Championship qualifyingas well as Ukraine U-XNUMX at U-20 World Cup XNUMX, supplemented the history of domestic football with new bright pages.

We suggest to mention previous medal swirls of blue-yellow.

The pause after the last success of Ukrainian football at the level of youth and youth tournaments turned out to be too long - since 2009, when Yuri Kalitvintsev's team won the European Championship on the fields of Donetsk and Mariupol, a lot of time has passed. And finally the breakthrough was made by Alexander Petrakov's wards.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

Interestingly, every time the Ukrainian U-19 team became one of the winners of the Euro, its players could boast of experience in the final tournament of the Euro U-17. So it was with the team born in 1981 (silver Euro-2000), so it was with the team born in 1985 (bronze Euro-2004), so it was with the team born in 1990 (gold Euro-2009). So it turned out this time as well. Moreover, Petrakov's team may not have been at the European Championships due to problems in qualifying, which began at the first stage.

The starting match with Albania is a victory (1: 0) thanks to the only goal of Vladislav Supryaga (in the second half Oleksiy Khakhlov did not score a penalty). In the second round - a duel with Norway, in the 8th minute the now famous Erling Holland put his team ahead, on the 16th goal managed to equalize with an own goal, and the fate of the match decided only in the 84th minute - 2: 1. Only with Montenegro in the final game, which, by and large, did not solve anything for us, everything went smoothly - 4: 0 (Serhiy Buletsa, Oleksiy Kashchuk's double and penalty taken by Viktor Kornienko).

But it was just a warm-up. In the elite round, which took place in Romania, we started with a zero draw with Sweden. In the second round they conceded a goal in the middle of the first half from the Serbs, the score was 0: 1 until the 79th minute, after which the defenders Vitaliy Mykolenko (79) and Oleksandr Safronov (90 + 1) took the floor.

Due to the loss of points with the Swedes in the last round with the hosts we were satisfied only with the victory. The Romanians had a draw for the first step and a pass to the final. Until the 77th minute, the score remained a draw - 0: 0. And then it exploded - Olimpio Moruzan put Romania ahead - 1: 0. The task for the Ukrainians became even more complicated - you need to win, and 15 minutes before the end of the match. The only joy is the removal of the author of the goal, who ran to swing a T-shirt.

It was he who looked the most defeated after the final whistle. In a quarter of an hour Petrakov's team showed character and punished 10 Romanians: in the 84th minute Safronov restored the balance, and in the 90th + 2nd Valery Bondar (another defender!) Brought the blue and yellows such a coveted victory - 2: 1!

Photo by uefa.com

At the Euro itself, it was also difficult, but at the start we were helped by the audacity of the French, who underestimated the opponent. After that, the Ukrainians step by step secured their exit from the group, but in the semifinals they fell under the Portuguese rink. Already in the 30th minute the match could be completed - 0: 5.

But the semifinals are already Euro medals. And with them - a pass to the U-20 World Cup, which was to take place in the summer of 2019 in Poland. At that time, no one could even imagine how the national team of Ukraine would perform at it ...

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

Ukraine at Euro-2018 (U-19)

Step by step

France - Ukraine - 1: 2

Goals: Guitan (23) - Tsitaishvili (13), Buletsa (86).

Ukraine: Kucheruk, Bondar, Popov, Mykolenko, Khakhlev (Belyaev, 90), Kornienko, Buletsa (Remenyuk, 89), Spouse, Dryshlyuk, Hemp, Citaishvili (Mussolitin, 90).

Referee: E. Dallas (Scotland).

Booked: Kamara (12), Sumare (62), Niacate (70) - Bondar (27). Sent off: Sarr (64).

July 17. Vaasa. Hietalahti Stadium. Group tournament.

Ukraine - England - 1-1

Goals: Spouse (39) - Tavernier (8).

Ukraine: Kucheruk, Bondar, Popov (Snurnitsyn, 73), Mykolenko, Khakhlov (Czech, 90), Kornienko, Buletsa, Supryaga, Dryshlyuk, Konoplya, Tsitaishvili (Remenyuk, 62).

Referee: M. Schüttengruber (Austria).

Booked: Popov (30).

July 20. Seinajoki. OmaSP Stadium. Group Tournament.

Ukraine - Turkey - 1: 0

Goal: Bullets (8).

Ukraine: Kucheruk, Bondar, Safronov, Popov, Mykolenko, Khakhlev, Kornienko, Buletsa (Remenyuk, 72), Spyryaga (Kulakov, 90), Dryshlyuk, Tsitaishvili (Belyaev, 61).

Referee: D. Lardo (Belgium).

July 23. Seinajoki. OmaSP Stadium. Group Tournament.

Photo by uefa.com

Ukraine - Portugal - 0: 5

Goals: Correia (2), Jota (19, 21), Trinkao (28, 30).

Ukraine: Kucheruk, Bondar, Popov, Mykolenko, Khakhlev, Kornienko, Buletsa, Spyryaga (Kulakov, 11), Dryslyuk, Hemp (Safronov, 34), Tsitaishvili (Remenyuk, 72).

Referee: M. Schüttengruber (Austria).

Booked: Buletsa (33), Kornienko (35), Mykolenko (90) - Joao Virginia (58).

July 26. Vaasa. Hietalahti Stadium. Semifinal.

The composition of the national team of Ukraine for Euro-2018 (U-19)

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

Not much time has passed since 2018, but some of the participants of that Euro U-19 managed to make their debut in the national teams of their countries. In our team it is Vitaly Mykolenko (eight matches). In addition, it is worth mentioning Andriy Lunin (five), who did not play in Euro 2018 (U-19) because he was focused on the transition from "Zorya" to Real Madrid and the opportunity to prove himself during the pre-season training camp. and sparring matches for the main members of the Royal Club.

There are young stars who have already made their debut in the national team, and in the applications of other teams - with the exception of England, Portugal and France. Some have even become world-class stars, such as Earling Holland.

Italy: Niccolo Zaniolo (5/2), Moise Ken (3/2), Sandro Tonali (3).

Norway: Earling Holland (2).

Turkey: Abdulkadir Omur (4), Güven Yalchin (3), Ahmed Kutudzhu (1).

National Teams Hall of Fame. U-19: Euro 2009 gold

National team's Hall of Fame. U-21: Euro 2006 silver

National Teams Hall of Fame. U-19: Euro 2004 bronze

National team's Hall of Fame. U-18: Euro 2000 silver

National Teams Hall of Fame. U-16: Euro 1994 bronze