June 30 - July 3, the women's national team of Ukraine in beach soccer participated in the first stage of Euroleague-2022 in Nazaré, Portugal. The blue-and-yellow team lost to England (3:4) and Spain (1:3), but defeated the Czech Republic team (4:0). 

The performance of the Ukrainian national team at the tournament was commented on by its head coach, Yuriy Klimenko.

"The psychological mood and atmosphere in the team were at the highest level. The girls united and lived and worked as one family. In Nazaré, we had a productive three-day training camp, but our sole goalkeeper who played for the national team during this tournament could only join the team a day before the first match.

The game against England, in my opinion, was a win for us, but one tactical and three technical mistakes prevented us from winning. However, regarding self-giving and playing discipline, I have no complaints about the girls. They fought an equal match with a famous opponent and even dominated him.

In the second match against Spain, we faced a very strong team that rightfully holds first place in the BSWW world ranking. We also played on equal terms with the Spaniards, but unfortunately, a mistake during a set play, which we analyzed theoretically and before the game, led to our first goal. In cases of the second and third goals, there was some confusion among us. But overall it was a very good game; we functionally held out throughout the match and did not give anything to the opponent.

My main task next was to psychologically support and motivate the girls for victory in our crucial match against the Czech Republic team, which had played England late into the night the day before and lost only after extra time. On 80% of this, they fulfilled what I asked. They realized their moments, worked hard in defense, and concluded the game with a big score, which was very necessary for our further performances. I am very grateful to the girls for their unity, discipline, and unshakable atmosphere throughout our entire journey.

In general, I do not like to single anyone out separately, but this time I will highlight Yuliya Kostyuk. Despite a difficult personal life situation, she demonstrated true character and professionalism in all three games. Only one goal was missing for Yuli to become the top scorer of this stage.

As for future plans, at the moment, the girls have several days off. Next week we will start training in Kyiv. We were invited to participate in Mundialito-2022 on the Canary Islands, and if the situation in the country does not hinder us and everything is okay, we will set out for these important games on July 19,"— said Yuriy Klimenko.

Therefore, the next tournament for Ukraine's women's national beach soccer team will be Mundialito-2022, which will take place in Tenerife from July 21 to 23. This is the first-ever women's tournament in history. In addition to our team, Spain, England, and the Czech Republic teams will also participate, so our girls are facing a repeat of the Nazaré tournament.