Vitaly Odegov: "It's nice that our national team demonstrated such a result and recorded it in the futsal history of Ukraine"

14.09.2022 18:03

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The head coach of the U-19 youth futsal team of Ukraine, Vitaly Odegov, summed up the team's performance in the final part of Euro-2022 and the entire three-year preparation period.

Recently, the blue and yellow team took part in Euro-2022 (U-19), which was held in Jaen, Spain. In the meetings of the group stage, Ukrainian boys won against Croatia (6:4) and Romania (5:2), and also drew with Spain (2:2), after which they lost to Portugal in the semi-finals (1:4).

This ended the three-year training cycle of the U-19 national futsal team. His summaries in an interview for press service of the Futsal Association of Ukraine the head coach of the team, Vitaliy Odegov, beat him.

— To Vitaly Oleksiyovych, the youth national team of Ukraine improved its result three years ago and stopped at the semi-final stage. How would you summarize the team's performance in the final part of Euro-2022?

— Indeed, we improved the result. In general, I will say that the national team held the championship quite well. First of all, it is about the quality of the game and the results that the team demonstrated during the group stage. Emotions from the Euros remained positive, as we won in the group stage, did not suffer a single defeat at this stage and, by some coincidence, had the opportunity to go further from the first place. In this case, it is not known how the semi-final match against the Polish national team would turn out. On the other hand, you always try to strive for more. Both the boys and the coaching staff wanted to win medals. I believe that our team was able to reach the finals. Unfortunately, there were not enough emotions. Our national team cannot play without them. In order to face the top teams two days in a row, there is a lack of emotions. I understand that all participants are in the same conditions, but for me a break between the last match in the group and the semi-final would be a higher priority. This could contribute to a better performance of our team. Everyone dreamed of the final match!

— Our national team passed the group stage in one breath. What factor caused the defeat from Portugal to a greater extent? Lack of energy or emotions?

- This is a complex of reasons. Indeed, there was not enough strength, in connection with which the boys made mistakes. All four goals were missed precisely because of an individual deficiency. The opponent did not give one hundred percent effort in these episodes. Instead, we helped him. The errors were quite critical and noticeable. What is the reason for their occurrence? First of all, they were physically tired. When this aspect is missing, emotional uplift is activated, which allows you to play to the maximum and be focused on the result. Unfortunately, in this aspect, our national team was exhausted after the match with Spain. The team was not enough for the match against Portugal. I will say unequivocally that we were not afraid of our opponent. I can even claim that the opponent played with some fear in the first half of the meeting. The Portuguese remembered that in November last year we beat them, analyzed the match against Spain, which we drew. Unfortunately, mistakes helped the opponent to win.

— The key emotions that helped the Ukrainian national team overcome the group stage in one breath — is it a comeback in the match against Croatia?

- Yes of course. This match could both kill all our hopes for the continuation of the fight in the tournament, and give an emotional boost. The team realized that everything depends on her. It was necessary to simply carry on with the case, which eventually happened. The first half was rather unsuccessful. The boys lacked confidence. The new surface is significantly different from those on which we conducted training. Those things that the guys are able to do, for the most part, did not work out due to the different speed of moving the ball. Gradually, the team adapted and began to feel comfortable. It is good that the players found strength and emotions. They showed real character and were able to get this victory.

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— During the last two matches, the team repeatedly used the tactics of the game "5 on 4". How satisfied are you with the actions of your wards in the artificial majority?

— I was 90 percent sure, when our team went out on the floor with an artificial majority, that the boys would not do anything stupid. I expected that it would bring us certain fruits. When we went out to play "5 on 4", we pursued different tasks. In certain episodes, the national team had to play. Also, one of the strategies was to move the game into the opponent's half of the court and make them move while we controlled the ball.

— According to the regulations of the championship, there was no match for the third place. How unfortunate is it that the Ukrainian national team was not able to compete for bronze medals?

— This practice exists for the second European Youth Championship in a row. Such a question arose not only from our side, but also from other participating teams. It depends not on the national teams that qualified for the final part, but on the organizers of the competition. It would be interesting for the young guys to have another match at this level. This match would be very important. The teams would have great motivation to fight for another set of awards.

— The preparation of the national team for Euro-2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic lasted almost three years. What can you say to the team based on the results of this period?

— I would like to thank all the guys for their work and attitude towards it. All team members have always been maximalists and set themselves ambitious tasks. It is nice that our national team demonstrated such a result and recorded it in the futsal history of Ukraine. I would like to wish each of the futsal players to continue to progress and at least reach the level of representatives of the national team.