The coach of Ukraine's beach soccer team, Mykola Kostenko, commented on our team's performance at the qualification tournament for the 2023 World Beach Games in Sicily.

Ukraine's beach soccer team secured third place in the European qualifier for the 2023 World Beach Games in Bali, thereby securing their spot in the prestigious tournament. Mykola Kostenko’s wards won against Azerbaijan (5:4), lost to Switzerland (3:7), and advanced to the quarter-finals. In the quarter-final, blue-and-yellow overcame Italy in overtime (5:4 OT), but were defeated by Spain in the semi-final (4:7). The last match for Ukraine in Catania was a third-place playoff against Switzerland (4:3).

The coach of our team, Mykola Kostenko, summed up the performance at the Sicilian tournament as follows: "Our main task was to qualify for the World Beach Games, and we accomplished it. Considering the difficult conditions of preparation for the games, third place is quite a good result."

Of course, after the quarter-final against Italy, we wanted to fight for first place. However, a minor injury to Dmytro Medvedyuk and a red card disqualification of team captain Igor Borsuk somewhat hindered us. Moreover, in the match with Italians, we spent a lot of emotional energy. We played at their home ground amidst wild support from local spectators plus several times the referee made rather controversial decisions against us. For instance, they gave us a very questionable penalty because an Italian player simply fell when our player stopped. The end of the game was very tense, but that's beach soccer.

We prepared the boys to play until the last minute after the second period, but we conceded first from a penalty and then due to tactical error. In the episode with their third goal, the referee helped them somewhat, while the final goal was due to an unsuccessful interaction between our goalkeeper and defender. There was great psychological pressure, and I am grateful to the boys for enduring this stress and finding the strength to win in overtime.

It's a pity that in the semi-final against Spain with a 2-2 draw we did not capitalize on several good opportunities, including hitting the crossbar. During the game, it felt like we could have fought for a place in the final.

Regarding the match for third place, Switzerland played without several key players, but that's their issue. It’s not our business to delve into other teams' internal affairs. The main thing is that we achieved the desired result and won awards. Overall, of course, there are still elements of our game that need work, but on a scale of five, the team played four plus.

We are very grateful to Ukrainian fans who constantly came to matches and supported us. People temporarily residing in Italy were also present at the stands, unfurling national flags. It was felt that these weren't regular football spectators but they supported us emotionally. We always thanked them after games, and they approached us later on. Warm relations developed between us, and their support helped us a hundred percent.

As for the Euroleague, we can theoretically now only fight for fifth place at most. Our main task is to qualify for the European Games."

We add that yesterday our team arrived on Sardinia where they will participate in the second stage of Euroleague-2022 which will take place in Cagliari from September 8th to 11th. Today, blue-and-yellow are scheduled for training and tomorrow there is a match against Azerbaijan.

Euroleague-2022 Beach Soccer. Men's Division A. Group A

08.09. Ukraine - Azerbaijan. 14:30

09.09. Ukraine - Germany. 14:30

Tournament Table