Oleksandr Kosenko: "Silver medals are a good result. However, I would like more"

Oleksandr Kosenko, head coach of the Ukrainian national futsal team, shared the team's plans for the future and commented on the successful performance of Ukrainian students at the 2022 World Cup.

The Futsal World Championship among student teams was recently held in Braga and Guimarães, Portugal. The men's national team of Ukraine became silver medalist of the competition, losing in the final to Brazil.

The coach of Ukrainian students at the 2022 World Cup was Oleksandr Kosenko, the captain of the national futsal team. His comment after the tournament is telling the Futsal Association of Ukraine press-service reports,.

— Oleksandr Petrovich, the student team of Ukraine took second place at the World Championship. What impressions did you have from the tournament and what results of the team's performance could you summarize?

— I think that the boys deserved to win. This is my personal opinion. First of all, considering how the final meeting was held. The team showed incredible emotions, dedication and skill. We also scored some really great goals. Unfortunately, it did not work out. Silver medals are a good result. However, I would like more. Even if you analyze the first match against Brazil, the boys were clinging to the score, but closer to the end of the meeting it was clear that it would not be possible to play a draw. Instead, we led the entire second match and were closer to victory. So it's really a shame that they didn't manage to win the gold awards.

— What was missing for victory in the final?

- Probably, the fact is that the Brazilian national team played against us. This is a really strong opponent who is at a high level. In my opinion, this team would fight decently on any forum. Our boys gave their all.

— What was the difference between the two matches against Brazil?

— The difference is actually big. Before the match at the group stage, we had already beaten Slovakia and had a match against Oman ahead of us. Of course, they played for victory in the first meeting as well. Unfortunately, it didn't work out. Before the finals, they better analyzed their mistakes in the match with the opponent. They knew what they had to work on.

— According to the results of the tournament, Andrii Melnyk received the MVP award, and Oleksandr Sukhov was recognized as the best goalkeeper. How nice is it to have two nominees on your team at once?

— In fact, many boys deserved to be honored in various nominations. It is nice that during the tournament representatives of the futsal community from different countries approached us and were interested in Ukrainian players. This is an indicator that the team managed to show itself well and demonstrated the best qualities. The successful game was the reason why the boys were recognized by the organizers of the tournament, specialists and just fans. That's why they go out on the floor.

— For you, the matches of the student world championship became the first as a head coach after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia. How much has the attitude towards Ukraine abroad changed?

— Of course, more attention is drawn to our country. The support is great. People from other teams approach and are interested in the state of affairs. It's inspiring. However, I want the war to end as soon as possible. Of course, our victory!

— Did the coaching staff of the national team of Ukraine choose any of the players based on the results of the tournament?

— All futsal players who are part of the student national team or play in the youth national team are still in our field of vision. Indeed, the vast majority of boys from the student national team did not have the experience of being called up to the national team. However, if we paid attention to them, we are not just considering bringing them to the World Cup among student national teams, playing and forgetting. We understand that we need to work for the future. Everyone has an equal chance to get into the national team.

- Recently was made public the calendar of matches of the national team of Ukraine in the main round of European qualification for the 2024 World Cup. What about the group in which our team will play?

— Of course, the Dutch national team has to some extent become a principle rival for us after the last Euro. I want to beat him. The Kosovo national team is also well known to us. They also have enough material to analyze our game. We will prepare and try to push back from our own game.

— How will the preparation of the national team of Ukraine for official matches continue?

— During the September UEFA window, we plan to hold a training camp and two friendly matches.

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