Luis Cortes: “UAF has a very ambitious project. I hope to help Ukraine strengthen its position in women's football "
On Monday, November 22, the Spanish specialist Luis Cortes held the first training session at the head of the women's national team of Ukraine. Although this was his first acquaintance with the team, training session at the STC. V. Bannikov was intense and lasted an hour and a half.
At the beginning of the training camp before the matches of the blue and yellows in the selection of the 2023 World Cup against Scotland and Hungary, Luis Cortes told the UAF press service why he stuck to the proposal of the association's president Andriy Pavelko, what are the goals of his coaching staff and the priorities. he plans to implement changes in the team.
Photo by Pavlo Kubanov
- Luis, last season you took the treble with Barcelona, winning all possible trophies in Spain and Europe, and now you are taking on the job of head coach of the women's national team of Ukraine. What prompted you to accept this challenge?
- The time spent in Barcelona was special for me. We did a great job, won many trophies. Such moments are never forgotten and remain with you for life. But I decided to complete this stage. The coach needs to understand when it's time to go and get some rest from work.
After my four-month break, UAF President Andriy Pavelko turned to me and said that the association was interested in me as the head coach of the Ukrainian women's national team. And also in the implementation of the program for the development of women's football in the country. I said yes, because this is a very ambitious project. I hope to help Ukraine strengthen its position in women's football in the coming years.
Photo by Pavlo Kubanov
- What goals did the UAF leadership set for you?
- To make women's football of Ukraine stronger, and this applies not only to the first, but also to girls' teams. We strive to educate a new generation of young football players. And we will try to take this team to a new level to show good football, no matter who the girls play with.
- What are your first impressions of the team and players called to the training camp on the eve of the next two matches in the selection of the 2023 World Cup?
- We have done a lot of work in the last few weeks, watching many matches with the participation of the team, as well as the players in their clubs.
I think that the level of this team is quite good. Even better than the girls themselves think or someone else thinks so. But we have to help them develop, take them to a new level, so that in future matches we can see the best versions of these artists.
- What are the first steps you want to take in working with the women's national team of Ukraine?
- The first step is to present new concepts or maybe even new ways of playing the game. These are ideas that are close to me and my coaching staff. Another equally important step is to strengthen girls' faith in themselves. They should play calmly and confidently. We are not going to put pressure on them about the upcoming matches, because we only have four days to prepare. But we are going to help them be more confident so that their game gets better. Maybe not in the next four days, but I'm sure the effect will be in a month.
- The women's national team of Ukraine will play two crucial away matches in the selection of the 2023 World Cup with the teams of Scotland and Hungary. What do you expect from your wards in these games?
- We understand what responsible matches await us. We know how important it is to get results in these games. But I always say that the result is the result of a lot of work in the right direction. I told the team that they had a hard job ahead of them that would allow them to move in the right direction. If we do that, we will have much more chances to win. This is our main idea. And we start working right now.
Photo by Pavlo Kubanov
- You may have already learned a few words in Ukrainian since arriving in our country…
- Thank you, good evening, Dad, Mom. Others will still need to be studied (laughs).
It will be recalled that UAFA President Andriy Pavelko, a member of the UEFA Executive Committee, commented on the appointment of Luis Cortes and expressed confidence that this personnel decision would lead to significant progress in the entire women's football system in Ukraine. After all, Luis, together with two assistants from Spain, are ready not only to coach the national team, but also to share their knowledge of the development of women's football, which they have successfully implemented in Catalonia. Inviting a specialist of such a level as Luis Cortes will be a good contribution to our strategy for the development of women's football in Ukraine. "
The Ukrainians will play two away games - On November 26 against Scotland and on November 30 against Hungary. The first match will take place in Glasgow at Hampden Park Stadium (kick-off at 21.35 Kyiv time). Lluis Cortes' wards will play their second match in Kisvarda at the local Varkert Stadium (kick-off at 19.00 pm Kyiv time).
2023 Women's World Cup. European zone. Group B
16.09.2021/0/10 Faroe Islands - Spain - XNUMX:XNUMX
17.09.2021/0/2 Hungary - Scotland - XNUMX: XNUMX
21.09.2021/7/1 Scotland - Faroe Islands - XNUMX: XNUMX
21.09.2021/0/7 Hungary - Spain - XNUMX: XNUMX
21.10.2021. Ukraine - Faroe Islands - 4: 0
22.10.2021/2/1 Scotland - Hungary - XNUMX: XNUMX
26.10.2021. Ukraine - Spain - 0: 6
26.10.2021/1/7 Faroe Islands - Hungary - XNUMX: XNUMX
Standings
|
Teams |
G |
W |
D |
L |
М |
P |
|
1. Spain |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
23-0 |
9 |
|
2. Scotland |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
11-2 |
9 |
|
3. Ukraine |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4-6 |
3 |
|
4. Hungary |
4 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
8-12 |
3 |
|
5. Faroe Islands |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
2-28 |
0 |
25.11.2021/XNUMX/XNUMX Spain - Faroe Islands
26.11.2021/XNUMX/XNUMX Scotland - Ukraine
30.11.2021/XNUMX/XNUMX Hungary - Ukraine
30.11.2021/XNUMX/XNUMX Spain - Scotland
08.04.2022. Ukraine - Scotland
08.04.2022/XNUMX/XNUMX Hungary - Faroe Islands
12.04.2022. Ukraine - Hungary
12.04.2022/XNUMX/XNUMX Scotland - Spain
02.09.2022/XNUMX/XNUMX Faroe Islands - Ukraine
02.09.2022 Spain - Hungary
06.09.2022/XNUMX/XNUMX Spain - Ukraine
06.09.2022/XNUMX/XNUMX Faroe Islands - Scotland
Playoffs: October 3-11, 2022.
Intercontinental playoffs: November 7-15, 2022, February 13-25, 2023, and April 3-11, 2023.
Final tournament (Australia, New Zealand): July 10 - August 20, 2023.
Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament. European area
Group Round
Europe has 2023 direct tickets to the 11 World Cup, another team will take part in the intercontinental playoffs.
The 51 national teams will play in a two-round tournament with home and away matches in nine groups: three groups of five teams (A-C) and six groups of six teams (D-I). The matches of this stage will take place in the period from September 2021 to September 2022.
Group A: Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Slovakia, Georgia.
Group B: Spain, Scotland, Ukraine, Hungary, Faroe Islands.
Group C: The Netherlands, Iceland, the Czech Republic, Belarus, Cyprus.
Group D: England, Austria, Northern Ireland, Northern Macedonia, Latvia, Luxembourg.
Group E: Denmark, Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Azerbaijan, Malta, Montenegro.
Group F: Norway, Belgium, Poland, Albania, Kosovo, Armenia.
Group G: Italy, Switzerland, Romania, Croatia, Moldova, Lithuania.
Group H: Germany, Portugal, Serbia, Israel, Turkey, Bulgaria.
Group I: France, Wales, Slovenia, Greece, Kazakhstan, Estonia.
Nine group winners will go directly to the 2023 World Cup. The second teams of the groups will continue to fight in the next stage.
Playoffs
The nine teams that take second place in the groups will advance to the playoffs, which will consist of two stages.
The top three among the second teams will have the opportunity to play directly in the second stage of the playoffs. The remaining six participants will compete for three passes in single-match confrontations in the first stage. The three winners of the first round and the three teams that advanced directly to the second stage will determine the three winners of the UEFA playoffs in one-match duels.
The two winners of the second-ranked UEFA playoffs (criteria applied to the results of the group stage plus the playoffs of the second round) will receive two automatic places at the 2023 World Cup, while the third winner will continue his journey in the intercontinental playoffs.
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