The head coach of Ukraine's U-19 national team, Dmitry Mykhaylenko, spoke about the football he wants his team to demonstrate, their opponents at Euro 2024, and improving the blue-and-yellow team's game.

The Ukrainian U-19 national team has qualified for the final stage of European first division in Group A, where they will play against Northern Ireland, Norway, and Italy. The coach of the blue-and-yellow team, Dmitry Mykhaylenko, shared his thoughts on the upcoming tournament and the performance of his players.

"Firstly, I want to emphasize that we are doing everything so our players can join the national team. We strive to play modern football — like the national team does. We encourage our players not to be afraid, not to worry about making mistakes, and to play modern football.

What do we mean by this? To act from a position of strength, even if we are playing against a very good opponent, not to be afraid, not to retreat behind our own goalposts, but rather try to impose our strength and will on the opposition. Play with passes, come out through combinations from our own goalposts, create numerical superiority, play between lines, threaten the opponents' goals frequently. And if the opponent has possession of the ball, then be active, not afraid to press them as high up the pitch as possible, and quickly get behind the ball line if they pass us.

Opponents? I've only seen one team — Italy's squad when we were preparing for the match against Switzerland. I remember that game — the Italians had a huge advantage but conceded 0-1. What I want to say is that you can play with everyone and beat anyone.

As a fan, I was at the match Italy U-17 vs Ukraine U-17 for players born in 2006 on Cyprus. Although the Italians won back then, there were no footballers who dominated ours. They won only through tactics and smarter actions in the last 25 meters of the field and a clear game in defense. But it wasn't a team with a huge advantage. Ordinary football players who pay a lot of attention to tactics — that's Italy.

As for Norway, those days are gone when they played primitive football. Now Norwegians change their approach to young players and play athletically and combinatorially. We have already faced Norway, and the opponent demonstrated a very high level of play. There are many players in leading European clubs there, so it will be a worthy adversary.

Regarding our improvement, we need to improve many things. But we should set ourselves maximum goals and demand full commitment from all players. We should try first to reach the semifinals, and then aim for something more," — said Dmitry Mykhaylenko.

Schedule of Ukraine's national team for Euro 2024 (U-19)

Group A

July 15, 2024

Italy — Norway (17:30, Belfast)

Northern Ireland — Ukraine (21:00, Larne)

July 18, 2024

Norway — Ukraine (17:30, Belfast)

Northern Ireland — Italy (21:00, Larne)

July 21, 2024

Norway — Northern Ireland (21:00, Belfast)

Ukraine — Italy (21:00, Larne)

July 25, 2024

Tie-breaker match for qualification to the World Cup 2025 (U-20)

A3 — V3 (18:30, Belfast)

Semifinals

1. A1 — B2 (16:00, Belfast)

2. B1 — A2 (21:00, Belfast)

July 28, 2024

Final

Winner 1 — Winner 2 (21:00, Belfast)

Match start times are in Kyiv time.