Yuriy Klymenko: "Unfortunately, the draw at the European Games was not in favor of the Ukrainian national team"

25.05.2023 14:43

Photo of ACFU

The head coach of the women's beach soccer team of Ukraine, Yuriy Klymenko, commented on the upcoming meetings of his team in Poland and Portugal.

In preparation for III In June, the women's beach soccer team of Ukraine will play friendly matches with teams from Poland and Portugal at the European Games.

The head coach of the blue-yellow team, Yuriy Klymenko, shared his plans for preparing for the prestigious competition.

"Starting from May 15, our team is holding a meeting in Kyiv. It will last until the 27th. We are currently reviewing potential candidates for the national team. We are especially interested in goalkeepers. Oleksandra Kulyk from "Kryvbas" works with us now, who has a great desire to play for the national team. Let's see her work in this microcycle and make a decision. The problem of the second goalkeeper is very acute for us, because several girls for various reasons will not be able to play for the national team at the moment.

In Kyiv, we work in a two-time mode, making up for the fact that the girls forgot a little during the last six months, when the team did not gather. They played a two-way game between themselves and moved on to tactical and technical training and working out the standards.

On May 30, we are going to Poland with 10 girls. Olesya Malinovska will join us there. In this composition, we will hold a five-day micro-gathering in Gdańsk. On June 1st and 2nd, we will work in a two-time mode, and on the 3rd and 4th, we will play two control matches with the Polish national team. This team is the host of the European Games and is currently working very intensively preparing for the tournament.

On June 5th we fly to Portugal, on the 6th we train, and on the 7th and 8th we play with the local national team. Iryna Dubytska and Taisia ​​Babenko will join us in Nazaré. That is, there will already be approximately the same squad with which we expect to go to the European Games. Portugal always has a good national team. Now Portuguese women are also being trained. Both we and they really need these friendly meetings.

Unfortunately, the draw at the European Games was not favorable to the Ukrainian national team. We got into a real group of death where, apart from us, Spain and Italy will play. The second group is a bit weaker, so whoever wins our group will have a good chance of winning the whole tournament.

After our gathering, four girls — Anastasia Terek, Iryna Dubytska, Myroslava Vypasniak and Olesya Malinovska — will play for their clubs in the European Champions Cup.

Finally, I want to add that it will be easier to work now, because until the end of the season I will have an assistant helping me. This is a young and promising coach, Artem Kryvoruchko, who has a great understanding of beach soccer. So I hope for fruitful work," said Yuriy Klymenko.

The composition of the women's national team of Ukraine in beach soccer 

Goalkeeper: Anastasia Terech. 

Outfield players: Maria Tikhonova, Myroslava Vypasnyak, Anastasia Kalyagina, Yulia Dekhtyar, Olesya Malinovska, Anastasia Klipachenko, Yulia Kostyuk, Hanna Davydenko, Iryna Vasylyuk, Olena Kyrylchuk, Iryna Dubytska, Taisia ​​Babenko.  

As a reminder, in the group round of the European Games in Poland, the women's beach soccer team of Ukraine will compete in Group B together with Spain and Italy. Poland, Portugal and the Czech Republic will play in the other three. The games will take place from June 27 to July 1 in Tarnov.

According to the regulations of the competition, the women's national teams will play in a one-round tournament at the group stage, based on the results of which the two best teams from each group will advance to the semifinals. The losers will compete for the 5th-6th places.