The start of the blue-and-yellow team's training on Thursday was uneventful. Gathering in the center of the field, the boys greeted President of the Ukrainian Football Association Andriy Pyvovarov with birthday wishes. On behalf of the team, coach Oleksandr Petrakov expressed warm words.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

In memory of the significant event, the team presented the head of Ukrainian football with an honorary jersey bearing numbers that symbolize the birthday boy's age. In turn, the president promised to continue supporting the main team in achieving its highest goals.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

After the warm applause, the players began their work. The start of which also had its own highlight. After intensive training days, Oleksandr Petrakov proposed to the boys to slightly diversify the warming-up process. In one of the exercises, a player had to use his imagination and come up with an unexpected move that his partner in the pair was supposed to repeat. It should be said that the blue-and-yellow team's imagination is rich: there were acrobatic flips, slides, dance moves in break-dance style and hopak. In one word, they entertained themselves and warmed up.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

Then it was back to work. Today, they finalized the tactical plays that were worked on over three days of training. Now it's important to combine a lineup of performers that will be most troublesome for our nearest opponent. The style of play of Finland's national team has been thoroughly analyzed during preparation, so coaches and players are well aware which components of the game require this or that attention.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

After training, the national team headed to the Opera hotel to have lunch and pack their suitcases. After lunch, the blue-and-yellow team will leave for Boryspil airport from where they will depart at 16:45 to Helsinki. The flight to Finland's capital is expected to take two hours; Finnish time is identical to Ukrainian time. Upon arrival, Ukrainians will check into the Crown Plaza hotel. Media events of the Ukraine national team are scheduled for tomorrow.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

Squad of the Ukrainian National Team

Goalkeepers: Andriy Pyatov ("Shakhtar" Donetsk), Georgiy Bushchan ("Dynamo" Kyiv), Dmytro Ryshnyk ("Vorskla" Poltava).

Defenders: Mykhailo Matviienko, Serhiy Kryvtsov, Viktor Kornienko (all — "Shakhtar" Donetsk), Oleksandr Karavayev, Illia Zabarnyi, Oleksandr Timchik, Oleksandr Syrota, Artem Shabanov (all — "Dynamo" Kyiv), Eduard Sobolev ("Brugge", Belgium).

Midfielders: Serhiy Sidorchuk, Mykhailo Shaparenko, Viktor Tsygankov (all — "Dynamo" Kyiv), Taras Stepanenko ("Shakhtar" Donetsk), Serhiy Bulytsa ("Zorya" Luhansk), Oleksandr Pichalnyk ("Dnipropetrovsk-1" Dnipro), Andriy Yarmolenko ("West Ham", England), Oleksandr Zubkov ("Ferencvaros", Hungary), Ihor Kharchyn ("Legia", Poland).

Forwards: Roman Yaremchuk ("Benfica", Portugal), Artem Dovbyk ("Dnipropetrovsk-1" Dnipro), Danylo Sikan ("Shakhtar" Donetsk).

Reserve List: Andriy Lunin ("Real Madrid", Spain), Valeriy Bondar, Yurym Konoplyanka (both — "Shakhtar" Donetsk), Bohdan Mykhailichenko ("Anderlecht", Belgium), Vladyslav Korchynskyi ("Zorya" Luhansk), Vladyslav Kalitvinets ("Dnipro-1" Dnipropetrovsk).

Oleksandr Hlynsky, press secretary of the Ukrainian national team