The opponents of the Ukrainian team will be the teams from Oman and Saudi Arabia. Matches against the Omani team are scheduled for February 28 (kickoff at 4 PM Kyiv time) and March 1 (4 PM). The match against the Arabians is planned for March 2 (6 PM).

About our team's preparation and the main goal of these friendlies, coach of the blue-and-yellow team Mykola Kostenko shared.

"The team will depart from Ukraine on Friday, February 24 in the morning. The journey will be quite challenging as we have to travel by bus to Budapest, then fly to Turkey and from there - to Oman. Unfortunately, there is no other option, so this is necessary. 

Two matches against the Omani team were planned right away, and literally today successful negotiations with Saudi Arabia regarding another match have been completed. We view these encounters as a stage of preparation for the upcoming busy season. For already a month we have been training in Kyiv and want to prepare ourselves as best as possible since this year's international tournaments start very early. Our coaching staff sets the goal that our boys will regain their feel for the sand sooner. 

As for the immediate task of these friendly matches, we, as always, are geared towards the highest results. So we will prepare since, in addition to the matches, we plan a small training camp there. We plan morning trainings before games, theoretical sessions, and match analysis," — our coach said. 

"We included three goalkeepers in the team's lineup right away and want to evenly distribute workload on them. In the field we are counting on 10 players." — added Mykola Kostenko.

Ukraine Beach Soccer National Team Roster

Goalkeepers: Andriy Nerush ("Griffin"), Denis Sabatyuk ("Alternative"), Oleksandr Pospelovskyy ("VIT").

Field Players: Yuri Shcheritsya, Oleg Budz'ko, Ivan Gluts'kyi, Maxim Voitok, Oleksandr Korniychuk (all — "VIT"), Igor Levchenko, Andriy Pashko (both — "Alternative"), Andriy Borsuk, Oleg Zborovskyy (both — "Arthur Music"), Oleg Shchitnik (NC Beachsoccer).

"In the summer of 2021 we already played against Omanis in Kyiv. They came to us for Independence Cup. A very tough team, strong physically, well organized. We won that time with a score of 3-1 but after hard battle. So matches should be interesting, especially since hosts are also preparing for the World Championship qualifier and these will be important games for them as well," — noted Ukraine national team coach Oleksandr Korniychuk. 

It is worth noting that the Oman beach soccer national team currently holds 19th place in the BSWW world ranking, Saudi Arabia — 31st, while our team is on the 13th position.