In group 2 of the main round of Euro-2023 (U-19) qualification, which was hosted by the Serbian city of Vrnjacka Banja, the blue-and-yellow team, having defeated Montenegro (12:1), Romania (7:3), and Serbia (4:2), secured first place and thus qualified for the third of three European championships. Croatia (host), Slovenia, Portugal, Finland, France, Spain, and Italy also advanced to the final tournament.

The head coach of our team, Igor Moskvinov, evaluated the performance in qualification in a comment for the press service of the Ukrainian Handball Federation.

— Igor Evgenyevich, congratulations to you and your team on advancing to the final stage of Euro-2023! Tell us about your emotions after achieving such a result?

— Of course, I last felt such emotions when I first won as a coach with Kherson's "Prodexim." Indeed, it was very pleasant to see the boys' approach to the matter. The captain of the team, Dmytro Skychyk, and vice-captain Maxim Malynovsky led the national team. I would also like to mention the quality of our team's play. We had less time for preparation. I want to express gratitude to the players for their productive work and advancement to the final stage of Euro-2023.

— Regarding the match against Serbia, how do you think how much did a quick goal help calm down the team?

— Of course, a quick goal always helps. The boys had to withstand the pressure of their opponents for the first five minutes and not concede. The Serbian national team played in six or seven players, and in previous matches, they always scored quick goals but then ran out of steam. It was difficult, but we didn't just hold on; we also scored. After that, it became easier for us. I can say that the Ukrainian national team even slightly overperformed their plan.

— You mentioned that before the main round, you managed to improve a component such as set-piece execution. It must be nice that in the match against Serbia, several goals were scored after your set pieces?

— Of course, we are satisfied with our work on this aspect. We scored from set-pieces in every game. This was very helpful. We did well with corner kicks and free-kicks but still need to improve penalty kicks. We will work on that in the future.

— When during the match against Serbia did you realize that your team wouldn't let go of the victory?

— After the first half, we were ahead 3-0. This gave us hope. To be honest, I thought the opponent would start playing with a man advantage earlier than ten minutes before the end of the match. The Serbs played many friendly matches but never used this tactic until now. Of course, our boys know how to act under any circumstances, but their tactics in such situations were unknown to us. When they scored the first goal — I was a bit upset because it was completely unnecessary and from far away. After that, the stands became more active (the supporters actively supported the hosts from the start, but after our score went up 2-0, there was silence). So some doubts crept in, but confidence that we would hold on and score again didn't disappear. In my opinion, the team played a decent match. The boys managed to neutralize their pillars. This made it much harder for the opponents.

— Throughout the main round, Ukraine's national team scored 23 goals but doesn't have an outstanding scorer. In your opinion, is this a positive or negative aspect?

— I think it's positive. If one person scores all the time, they can be neutralized easily. On the other hand, when almost everyone contributes to scoring goals, opponents have to think hard about who to take out of the game first. This is an advantage because no one knows who will score tomorrow — let's say Malynovsky or Snitsarenko. If opponents analyze us individually before future matches — they'll have a lot to ponder over.

— The final stage of the Euro-2023 youth championship will take place in September. What are your team's next plans?

— The primary task for Ukraine's national team was to advance to the final stage, which we accomplished. We have a certain plan of preparation that we are discussing with Sergey Vladik. Of course, we will conduct friendlies but won't publicize preliminary agreements yet. In my opinion, the preparation for the main round went quite well. I hope it will be the same before the final stage of the European Championship.

Euro-2023 (U-19) Handball Qualification Main Round Group 2

March 22, 2023

Ukraine — Montenegro — 12:1

Romania — Serbia — 1:6

March 23, 023

Romania — Ukraine — 3:7

Serbia — Montenegro — 3:1

March 25, 2023

Serbia — Ukraine — 2:4

Montenegro — Romania — 2:7

Final Standings

The location of the final tournament for Euro 2022/2023 among under-19 boys was announced as Poreč (Croatia). The format will remain the same: eight participants will play in two groups of four teams, with the top two from each group advancing to the semifinals.

The inaugural European Championship among under-19 boys was held in 2019 in Rijeka, and the second edition took place in Hagen in 2022 — both times (2019, 2022) Spain's team emerged as champions. The second championship was initially planned for 2021 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ukraine's national team participated in both final tournaments. In 2019, Vitaliy Odegov's wards secured third place in their group, and in 2022, they were eliminated in the semifinals.