U-21: Players of the Ukraine youth national team shared their thoughts on preparing for March matches

In Turkey, the Ukraine youth team continues its work ahead of March friendlies—against Morocco U-23 in a friendly match and against Azerbaijan in an official qualifier for Euro-2025 (U-21). Defenders of the blue-and-yellow, Konstantin Vovcharenko and Artem Smolyakov, shared their thoughts on the team's preparation. "Everything is great, the mood is good, we are training in nice conditions."

U-21: Players of the Ukraine youth national team shared their thoughts on preparing for March matches

Photo by the press service of the UAF

In Turkey, Ukraine's youth team continues preparations ahead of March friendlies — a match against Morocco U-23 and an official qualifier for Euro 2025 (U-21) against Azerbaijan.

The defenders of the blue-and-yellow team, Konstantin Vyhcharenko and Artem Smyolyakov, shared their thoughts on the team's preparation.

"Everything is great, the mood is good, we train in nice conditions. The flight was tough but it’s okay. For the first two days, we are recovering from a long journey. There is a weekly cycle and we will prepare for two matches, trying to win," said Konstantin Vyhcharenko.

"There was an intense training session, we recovered well. The hotel has everything — pool, massage... The mood in the team is good. I am very happy to see the boys. The coaching staff sets maximum goals as always. We need to give our best in every game and stick to the principles they instill in us," noted Artem Smyolyakov.

Recall that on March 26, within the framework of the youth European Championship qualifier, Ukraine will face Azerbaijan in Baku at "Azeri Sun Arena". The match starts at 14:00 Kyiv time. Prior to this, blue-and-yellow team will play a friendly match against Morocco U-23 on March 22 at the "Mardan" stadium in Antalya. Kick-off is set for 20:00 Kyiv time. It should be noted that with five wins out of five matches, Unai Melgosi's team confidently leads Group F.

Ukraine Youth Team Squad

Goalkeepers: Pavlo Isenko ("Vorskla" Poltava), Ruslan Nescheret ("Dynamo" Kyiv), Yakiv Kinaraykin ("Dnipro-1" Dnipropetrovsk).

Defenders: Ilya Krups'kyi ("Vorskla" Poltava), Konstantin Vyhcharenko ("Dynamo" Kyiv), Arseniy Batagov ("Zorya" Luhansk), Artem Smyolyakov ("Polesye" Zhytomyr), Vitalii Roman, Bohdan Slubik (both — "Rukh" Lviv), Volodymyr Saluyk ("Chornomorets" Odesa).

Midfielders: Yegor Yarmoluk ("Brentford", England), Yevhen Pavlyuk ("Vorskla" Poltava), Nazar Voloshyn ("Dynamo" Kyiv), Valentyn Rubchynskyi, Oleksandr Ocheretyko (both — "Dnipro-1" Dnipropetrovsk), Oleksandr Yasik ("Zorya" Luhansk), Maxim Khlyan ("Lechia", Poland), Boris Krushynskyi ("Polesye" Zhytomyr), Ilya Kvasnytsia, Yevhenii Pastukh (both — "Rukh" Lviv), Ivan Varfolomeyev ("Slaven", Czech Republic), Maxim Bragaru ("Chornomorets" Odesa).

Forwards: Igor Horbach ("Zorya" Luhansk), Igor Krasnoper ("Obolon'" Kyiv).

Euro 2025 (U-21). Qualifying Tournament. Group F

07.09.2023

Northern Ireland — Luxembourg — 0:1

11.09.2023

Luxembourg — England — 0:3

12.09.2023

Ukraine — Northern Ireland — 1:0

Serbia — Azerbaijan — 2:0

12.10.2023

Azerbaijan — Northern Ireland — 0:1

Luxembourg — Ukraine — 0:3

England — Serbia — 9:1

16.10.2023

Ukraine — England — 3:2

Northern Ireland — Serbia — 1:2

17.10.2023

Azerbaijan — Luxembourg — 3:2

17.11.2023

Ukraine — Luxembourg — 4:0

18.11.2023

Serbia — England — 0:3

21.11.2023

Ukraine — Azerbaijan — 1:0

Serbia — Luxembourg — 2:0

England — Northern Ireland — 3:0

Standing Table

 

 Team

Pl

W

D

L

M

Pts

1

 Ukraine

5

5

0

0

12—2

15

2

 England

5

4

0

1

20—4

12

3

 Serbia

5

3

0

2

7—13

9

4

 Azerbaijan

4

1

0

3

3—6

3

5

 Luxembourg

6

1

0

5

3—15

3

6

 Northern Ireland

5

1

0

4

2—7

3

22.03.2024

Luxembourg — Serbia

Azerbaijan — England

26.03.2024

England — Luxembourg

Azerbaijan — Ukraine

Serbia — Northern Ireland

06.09.2024

Luxembourg — Azerbaijan

Northern Ireland — England

Ukraine — Serbia

10.09.2024

Northern Ireland — Ukraine

Azerbaijan — Serbia

11.10.2024

England — Ukraine

12.10.2024

Northern Ireland — Azerbaijan

15.10.2024

Luxembourg — Northern Ireland

England — Azerbaijan

Serbia — Ukraine

Play-offs: 11–19 November 2024.

In the final stage of Euro 2025 (U-21), 16 teams will participate: Slovakia and another 15 national teams that join it based on qualifying results (nine group winners, three best second-placed teams, and three play-off winners).