Yurii Moroz: "In attack, the Irish and Italians were stronger, but in defense we made simple mistakes"

16.03.2023 14:00

Photo of UAF press service

The youth national team of Ukraine (football players not older than 2006) is in third place finished the elite round of qualification for Euro-2023 (U-17), which did not allow the blue and yellow to reach the final part of the tournament. The official website of UAF asked head coach Yuriy Moroz to sum up the results of our team's performance in Cyprus.

— Yuriy Leontiyovych, how upset are you that your wards did not make it to the finals of the Euro?

- Everyone is upset. After the first match with Cyprus the mood was good, but the second match against Ireland took a toll on us. They played very poorly in defense.

- He was the key match with Ireland?

— Defensive mistakes in the 4th and 12th minutes hurt us. This is not at all what I expected to see from my wards, they brought themselves goals. They regrouped, started to play as two attackers, but as a result missed a counterattack, and it was all over. However, even after this meeting, we had a chance to leave the group...

Photo of UAF press service

— In the matches against Ireland and Italy, the blue and yellow could not score. Were the opponents so strong, or did we lack skill?

- These are strong rivals. I said even before the tournament that every country has learned how to play football. In attack, the Irish and Italians were stronger, and in defense we made simple mistakes, the players in this section did not please, so the result is obvious. But let's not sprinkle our heads with ashes, there is a lot of work ahead.

And I would also like to thank our fans who supported the Ukrainian national team in Cyprus.

Euro-2023 (U-17). Elite round of qualifying. Group 6

07.03.2023

Italy — Ireland — 2:2

Cyprus — Ukraine - 2: 4

10.03.2023

Ukraine — Ireland — 0:3

Italy — Cyprus — 2:1

13.03.2023

Ukraine - Italy - 0: 3

Ireland — Cyprus — 3:2

Standings

In the elite round, 32 teams are divided into eight groups, 15 tickets to the final stage are at stake, the matches of which will take place from May 17 to June 2 in Hungary. The eight winners of the groups of the elite round of selection and the seven runners-up with the best results will advance to the final tournament. They will be joined by the host country.

Euro 2023 (U-17). Elite round

Group 1: Serbia, Israel, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus.

Group 2: Montenegro, Wales, Scotland, Iceland.

Group 3: The Netherlands, England, Denmark, Northern Ireland.

Group 4: Spain, Germany, Turkey, Finland.

Group 5: Portugal, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia.

Group 6: Italy, Ukraine, Cyprus, Ireland.

Group 7: Belgium, Norway, Croatia, Slovenia.

Group 8: France, Switzerland, Latvia, Albania.

We will remind, in the qualifying round of Euro-2023 (U-17) the youth national team of Ukraine under the leadership of Yuriy Moroz took first place in their group, ahead of the teams of Azerbaijan (5:2), Liechtenstein (7:0) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (1:1).