— Unlike the other participants, we gathered this year for the first time due to Russian aggression, — said head coach of Ukraine WU-19 Valeriy Palamarzhuk in a comment on the official website of the UAF. — We had to limit ourselves to a four-day preparation stage. Of course, that was not enough.

— In an interview with our site before leaving for Denmark, you mentioned that it is most important not to make a mistake with the strategy. What did you mean by this?

— We need to be realistic. The main task was to preserve our place in the elite division. Since we valued our chances against our first opponents — Sweden and Denmark — as the highest, it was desirable to approach the final match with Iceland with better indicators so that even a draw would suffice.

— But Iceland had other ideas and became the real surprise of the tournament…

— You are right, no one expected such a strong performance from Iceland's national team. It is not excluded that the hosts and Swedes even underestimated them. However, this is their problem. The facts speak for themselves: Iceland, demonstrating maximum readiness and surprising with their pressing ability, goal orientation, and effective energy distribution throughout the matches, managed to secure an early qualification to the final stage of the European Championship. And note, it's about a team that started the current campaign in League B!

— But still — what can explain the crushing defeats suffered by Ukraine against Sweden (0-5) and Denmark (1-5)?

— Of course, we could have complained about the loss of key defender Lesia Olhova due to injury the day before the start, but frankly speaking, our girls were not ready for such aggressive, fast-paced actions by their opponents. Poor ball control and lack of chemistry negatively affected the execution of tactical plans.

Photo courtesy of UAF

— But in the final match, your wards did manage to make a statement and prevent Iceland from achieving their maximum result in Denmark…

— Indeed, in the last match, the girls showed meaningful actions. And if not for an unfortunate mistake while playing out of our own goal, we could have won outright. We had to settle for a 2-2 draw. You know, I even caught myself thinking that if this group stage tournament had been held over two rounds, we would have performed better…

— What's next?

— The core of the team, which consists of players born in 2004, will remain with the squad, and I hope that some of these performers will soon knock on the door of Ukraine's senior women's national team. As for qualifying for Euro-2024, it will be made up mainly by girls born in 2005 who played in Denmark. We also need to look at candidates a year younger. In June, there will be a draw when we will learn our first opponents already in League B. Of course, we must put in maximum effort to return to the elite as soon as possible.

Euro-2023 (WU-19). Second Qualifying Round. Group A5

April 5, 2023

Ukraine — Sweden — 0:5

Denmark — Iceland — 0:1

April 8, 2023

Denmark — Ukraine — 5:1

Sweden — Iceland — 1:2

April 11, 2023

Iceland — Ukraine — 2:2 

Sweden — Denmark — 0:2 

Final Standings