EURO-2024 (U-19): Ukraine plays friendly in Poland ahead of departure to Northern Ireland

09.07.2024 20:35

The Ukraine U-19 team (players born no earlier than 2005) continues its training camp in Poland as part of preparations for the final stage of the EURO-2024 Championship.

Today, on July 9, under the guidance of coach Dmytro Mykhailenko, they played a friendly match against Polish third-league club Olimpia (Elbląg) and secured a 2:1 victory.

Our team conceded a penalty goal in the 60th minute but showed resilience to turn the game around. Serhiy Ponomarenko equalized with a powerful strike in the 80th minute after a rebound and then scored the winning goal from a free kick just three minutes later. Final score: 2:1.

Most importantly, the coaching staff had the opportunity to assess the full potential of the squad, providing valuable insights ahead of their upcoming tests in Northern Ireland, where the team flies on Thursday, July 11.

Friendly Match

Ukraine (U-19) - Olimpia (Poland) - 2:1 (0:0)

Goals: Ponomarenko (80, 83) - (60, penalty).

Ukraine (U-19). First half: Krapyvtsov, Oharkov, Mykhavko, Balaba, Husiev, Vashchenko, Derkach, Tsukanov, Hadzhyiev, Synchuk, Bohdanov. Second half: Bakus (Surkis), Dihtyar, Melnychuk, Balaba, Drozd, Obinaya, Matkevych, Tuterov, Krevsun, Shevchenko, Ponomarenko.

Ukraine U-19 Squad:

Goalkeepers: Markian Bakus (Rukh Lviv), Vyacheslav Surkis (Dynamo Kyiv), Vladyslav Krapyvtsov (Dnipro-1 Dnipro).

Defenders: Taras Mykhavko, Nazar Balaba, Oleksiy Husiev (all Dynamo Kyiv), Mykola Oharkov, Anton Drozd (both Shakhtar Donetsk), Maksym Melnychenko (Dnipro-1 Dnipro), Kyrylo Dihtyar (Metalist Kharkiv).

Midfielders: Viktor Tsukanov (Shakhtar Donetsk), Daniil Vashchenko (Oleksandriya), Andriy Matkevych (Dynamo Kyiv), Samuel Obinaya (Metalist 1925 Kharkiv), Ramik Hadzhyiev (Dnipro-1 Dnipro), Hennadiy Synchuk (Metalist Kharkiv), Oleksandr Fetko (Karpaty Lviv), Danylo Krevsun (Borussia Dortmund, Germany), Maksym Derkach (RFSH, Latvia), Timur Tutierov (Sunderland, England), Christian Shevchenko (Watford, England).

Forwards: Matviy Ponomarenko (Dynamo Kyiv), Dmytro Bohdanov (Dynamo Dresden, Germany).

The official squad for EURO 2024 will include three goalkeepers (one as a reserve) and 18 outfield players.

EURO 2024 (U-19)

Group A: Northern Ireland, Norway, Italy, Ukraine.

Group B: Denmark, Turkey, France, Spain.

Group A

15.07.2024

Italy vs. Norway (17:30, Belfast)

Northern Ireland vs. Ukraine (21:00, Larne)

18.07.2024

Norway vs. Ukraine (17:30, Belfast)

Northern Ireland vs. Italy (21:00, Larne)

21.07.2024

Norway vs. Northern Ireland (21:00, Belfast)

Ukraine vs. Italy (21:00, Larne)

25.07.2024

Playoff for a spot in the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup

A3 vs. B3 (18:30, Belfast)

Semi-finals

A1 vs. B2 (16:00, Belfast)

B1 vs. A2 (21:00, Belfast)

28.07.2024

Final

Winner 1 vs. Winner 2 (21:00, Belfast)

Match times are in Kyiv time.

It's worth noting that on March 26, our team splendidly concluded the elite round of Euro 2024 (U-19) qualification with a victory over Switzerland (3:0). Before that, Dmytro Mikhaylenko's wards defeated North Macedonia (2:0) and Latvia (3:0). The blue-yellows won their group with the maximum points and earned a spot in the final tournament of the European Championship, which will take place from July 15 to 28 in Northern Ireland, with the participation of eight national teams.

The two best teams from each quartet will advance to the semifinals. The final for the main trophy will be held on July 28 at Windsor Park in Belfast. There is no match scheduled for the third place, but the fifth-place match will take place, as Europe will delegate five representatives to the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup, which will be held in Chile with 24 national teams participating. Therefore, the winner of the match between the third-placed teams in the groups will join the four semifinalists. Like the semifinals, it is scheduled for July 25.

It's also worth mentioning that this will be the eighth final tournament for the Ukraine U-19 team in the European Championship. In 2019, Ukraine won gold at the FIFA U-20 World Cup.