Oleksandr Kosenko: "The most important thing is that we have a real team that has fulfilled the task and made its way to the European Championship"

16.04.2021 11:15

Photo by Andriy Potapov

The head coach of the Ukrainian national futsal team Oleksandr Kosenko commented on the results of his team in the last matches of the Euro-2022 qualifiers.

After two victories over Denmark in Zaporozhye (6:2 and 8:2) blue and yellow secured the second place in the quartet. This was the end of the April training camp for our team, as the Ukraine-Albania game, scheduled for April 11, were canceled. 

According to UEFA information, blue and yellow became participants in the final tournament. In the ranking of teams that took second place, the Ukrainians are in sixth place. In total, the top six out of eight teams went straight to the European Championships, while the two worst will play each other in the playoffs.

After the April training camp, the head coach of the futsal team of Ukraine Oleksandr Kosenko summed up its results in a comment for the official website of the UAF.

- Did your team perform the installation in the confrontation with Denmark?

- We won. The first half turned out to be a bit chaotic, but in general we brought the games to victory by doing what we had planned.

Photo by Andriy Potapov

- The opponent in both matches played quickly after the first conceded goals. The Danes were just lucky, did they still manage to impose a struggle on our team?

- They wanted to win back by conceding a goal. Went forward, equalized the score. If this happened in two matches, it shows that Denmark is a very good team that knows how to play. Opponents still had moments, some of which they did not realize. So I can't say that the Danes were just lucky. They did not score random goals. In the first match they played a good combination, in the second they won martial arts. This is their merit. Already the second half in both cases my wards had a better time and won.

- Goals for Denmark were scored by eight different players of the national team of Ukraine. Did you like this team game?

- It's great when there is a scorer in the team who can decide the fate of the episode in a difficult moment. But at the same time it is good when several futsal players can score, and the opponent does not even know from whom to expect trouble. It's great that the guys are scoring. I would like it to be so in the future.

- Can you single someone out from your wards?

- First of all, I would like to congratulate the debutants of the national team of Ukraine, note their good deeds. The guys showed skill, class, desire, really played very well. I would like to congratulate them on their successful debut, and wish them not to stop, develop and progress in the future.

Our goalkeeper Oleksandr Sukhov played great after Kyrylo Tsypun missed the matches due to a withdrawal and an injury received in the final of the Ukrainian Futsal Cup. He came out and showed that he is able to understand and play great when needed. I would like to mention him.

In general, the guys showed team action. Some did better, some worse for objective and subjective reasons. Therefore, the most important thing is that we have a real team that has completed the task and made its way to the European Championship.

Photo of FAU press service

- How did your wards react to the fact that the match with Albania will not take place?

- Two feelings. Many guys wanted to play with the Albanians, to play another game. At the same time, now in the Extra-League are responsible playoff matches. Therefore, this is an ambiguous situation.

- Were there any options for the game against Albania?

- No, Albanians said they would not come, sent a letter stating that they would not be able to fly due to the strike at the airport. UEFA is now deciding on this match.

- Have you already had such situations when official matches with the participation of the national team of Ukraine were canceled?

- Honestly, I do not remember. There was a recent precedent with the Danes when they did not arrive for the match, so in April we had two home matches in a row. And so I do not even remember such situations.

- The national team of Ukraine made its way to Euro 2022. What are the future plans of the team? When will you meet next time?

- For now, pause, the guys will finish the national championship. We will meet again somewhere closer to autumn.

Photo by Andriy Potapov