Andriy Shevchenko spoke with the players and coaches of the Ukrainian U-19 national team, which will play at Euro-2024

30.03.2024 11:55

Photo by Andrii Yushchak

An online conference was held in the House of Football. During it, UAF President Andriy Shevchenko congratulated the players and coaches of the U-19 youth national team of Ukraine who deserved the right to play in the final tournament of the European championship, which will be held in July in Northern Ireland.

The head coach of the Ukrainian U-19 national team, Dmytro Mykhaylenko, thanked Andriy Shevchenko for the fact that he found an opportunity and personally supported the team during the first match of the elite round of qualifying in North Macedonia.

"Thank you for personally congratulating the boys on the victory (2:0) in that match against the hosts of the tournament. As for the next matches, if we expected such a result with Latvia (3:0), then the real final came out with Switzerland. This team beat the Italians and Swedes in the previous qualifying round, showing very decent football. 

Photo by Andrii Yushchak

But we were confident in our abilities and naturally won - 3:0. Many thanks to all players and coaching staff. We are really proud that we are Ukrainians and that we have achieved such success," - said Dmytro Mykhaylenko, addressing Andriy Shevchenko.

In his turn, the UAF president said: "On behalf of myself and the entire association, the entire football community, I congratulate you! I was at your first match, I watched the others completely. I like the style you play. Well done, guys! I think that this is a very important step in your career, and I am very pleased that you as a team showed a very cool result. You have shown that you want to play a bright combination football - football that corresponds to today's global trend.

I think that each of you has your own ambitions. And this is very important. Because your career is built on such personal ambitions. However, the most important thing is the team. I can say from my experience: it is one thing to perform for your club, and quite another to play for the national team. This is a completely different responsibility. Immediately, the bar is raised very high, both physically, technically, and in terms of motivation. 

Therefore, I wish you to constantly raise this bar in your career and to realize the ambitions you have. And both personal and team. I want to thank you again! Now it is important for you to listen to the advice of the coaching staff and prepare well for the final tournament. For my part, I promise you full support from the Ukrainian Association of Football."

Photo by Andrii Yushchak

The final tournament of Euro-2024 will be held on July 15-28 in Northern Ireland with the participation of eight national teams. The draw will take place on April 17 in Belfast (starting at 17:00 Kyiv time). 

All participants of this forum are known. In addition to Northern Ireland, Ukraine, Italy (current champion), France, Spain, Turkey, Norway and Denmark will take part in the tournament. The hosts will take a place in the starting position A1, the other teams will be divided into two groups. The two best teams from each quartet will advance to the semifinals. The final will be held on July 28 in Belfast at Windsor Park. 

The match for the third place is not scheduled, but the match for the fifth will take place, as Europe delegates five representatives to the 2025 World Cup among U-20 teams, which will be held in Chile with the participation of 24 national teams. So the winner of the match between the third teams of the groups will join the four semi-finalists. Like the semi-finals, it is scheduled for July 25.