Oleh Bilyk: We had a special motivation to win the Lobanovskyi Tournament

05.06.2020 15:01

Photo of UAF press service

The next Valerii Lobanovskyi Tournament was to take place these days, but due to the quarantine the competition has been postponed to 2021. We would remind that the current holder of a trophy is Ukraine U-5, which won the tournament exactly a year ago, on June 2019, XNUMX, beat peers from Israel. Oleksandriya and Ukraine U-XNUMX goalkeeper Oleh Bilyk shared his memories of that match.

- A year has passed since the Ukraine U-XNUMX won the Lobanovskyi Tournament. Doesn't it feel like it was like yesterday?

- We remember that we fell into the history as the winners of the prestigious tournament. Just after that final match there were already many matches both for the club and for the national team, so you do not have time to turn around. New horizons lie ahead.

- Did you know before the match that the hosts did not win this tournament for 10 years in a row?

- I knew. Coaches often focused on this. And the press had enough information about it. This gave the team special motivation.

- Was the match against Israel the most difficult in your career?

- At that time - yes. We played in the minority for almost one and a half halves. It was difficult to defend. But after that match there were already much more difficult games.

- Last year, U-XNUMX team won two international tournaments, and a selection for Euro-2021 started not quite well. Why?

- In my opinion, the main reason is that we played football players born in 1998 before the qualifying tournament, and before the official matches we were joined by guys born in 1999, who played other football in the U-20 team. The team lacked mutual understanding.

- The chances are still there. Does the team believe in success?

- I will say for myself: I am optimistic about the future. In fact, Ukraine has a good chance, as there are still many matches ahead, including with competitors. Although at the moment the main thing is for the tournament to resume.

- We would like to ask you about the resumption of the championship. The Oleksandriya's victory in the last round allowed the team to remain among the contenders for the prizes?

- No doubt. In case of defeat, our gap with Zorya would be already nine points. Being in the top six, it is extremely difficult to play such a handicap. The match against Luhansk was almost decisive for us. Now the chances of Oleksandriya to rise higher in the table increased slightly.