Mykola Kostenko: "All the tasks of the team were fulfilled, but we wanted to achieve a positive result in the sparring matches with Portugal"

22.04.2023 14:01

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Mykola Kostenko, the head coach of the Ukrainian beach soccer team, summed up the results of the team's training camp in Portugal.

From April 10 to 18, the Ukrainian beach soccer team, at the invitation of the Portuguese Football Federation, held a training camp in Portugal as part of preparations for the new season. During it, the blue-yellow team played four control matches. 

On April 12 and 13, the wards of Mykola Kostenko and Oleksandr Korniychuk met with the Portuguese national team in Braga, conceding to it — 4:7 and 3:7, and on April 16 and 17, they beat the local club of the same name in Nazaré — 4:2 and 6:5 in accordance. 

Mykola Kostenko, the coach of our team, commented on the conducted control matches and the gathering in Portugal for the official UAF website.

"Regarding the training process at the Portuguese meeting, all the tasks set before the team by the coaching staff were fulfilled. I would like to note that our departure was divided, one might say, into two stages. The first took place in Braga with one training day and two game days. On the starting day of the training camp, we held two classes of technical and tactical orientation, and on the days of the matches, we also had time to work in the morning. So, our guys spent both matches with Portugal under a small load. This was one of the tasks — endurance work. 

Of course, we wanted to achieve a positive result in sparring, because we lost to our rivals at the meetings in Japan and Oman. But, unfortunately, it was not possible to do this in Braga either. There are objective reasons here, because the Portuguese have already started the national championship, and they worked together longer, so their playing tone was higher than ours. Plus one more point — in Kyiv, we trained in the arena, where the size of the playground is smaller than a standard playing field. This affected our physical condition, which was a little lacking.

However, we had a good training process and played against one of the strongest national teams in the world. It has very powerful players such as Leo Martins, Be Martins and Jordan Santos who are the leading footballers on the planet. And although Elinton Andrade remains the main goalkeeper of the Portuguese, now they will also play a young guy (Pedro Mano. — Editor's note), who distinguished himself with excellent possession of the ball and scored for us in each of the matches. This is a performer who can open new perspectives for the Portuguese team.

We tested ourselves, saw that there is still work to be done, identified weak points. It is very good that they have gained game tone, because at this stage it is important. The boys approached the matches with maximum self-sacrifice and motivation, and fought until the end. 

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The second stage of our gathering took place in Nazareth, where we switched to three training sessions a day. The weather was much better here, because it rained in Braga, and the temperature dropped to 15-17 degrees. In Nazaré, it was sunny and 22 degrees - just wonderful conditions. We lived at a surfer's base one and a half kilometers from the city, which is just perfect for training and recovery. 

On the first day there were only classes, and on the second we trained, played against the local team, which we beat - 4:2, and also held an evening training session. The third day was built according to the same scheme, and again we met with the same team, winning - 6:5. At the stage in Nazare, we worked on the development of speed and special endurance, so the loads on the players were very high. By the way, it was not easy for us in sparring either, because the players of FC "Nazaré" were very motivated against us. 

At the second stage, Ihor Borsuk, who is currently in excellent playing and physical condition, joined us. He is a real team captain, a professional with a capital letter, who added positive emotions to us. In general, the gathering turned out to be good, in excellent conditions, for a coach it is just a dream. I will emphasize once again that the most important thing is that we completed all the main tasks and managed without a single injured player," said Mykola Kostenko.

Photo of ACFU

The coach of the Ukrainian national team also outlined the team's immediate plans: "Unfortunately, we were working, taking into account that the selection for the 2023 world championship will take place in early May. However, BSWW moved it to July. Therefore, at the meeting in Portugal, we slightly changed the strategy of preparation for the season and will now adjust the work plans in Kyiv. 

This week the boys rested, and next they will start training in the maintenance mode, three times a week. It will last a little less than a month, and then we will move on to focused preparation for the European Games. Also, in mid-May, we are planning to hold the Yevgeny Ryabchuk Cup and the participation of our players in matches for the Kyiv Cup."

We will remind that the first official tournament for the wards of Mykola Kostenko and Oleksandr Korniychuk will be the European Games in Krakow (June 26-30).