"We aim to create a miracle": Ukraine Olympic team players on preparation for the Games in France

21.07.2024 18:15

Ukraine Olympic team players Arseniy Batagov and Vladyslav Veleten spoke about the team's preparations for the 2024 Summer Olympics in France.

After the friendly match against Paraguay (2:2), the Ukraine Olympic team arrived in Lyon, where defender Arseniy Batagov joined them and shared his impressions with the UAF press service.

"I've already had a chance to speak with everyone — both teammates and the coaching staff. The mood is very positive because I’ve been eagerly awaiting my arrival at the team camp. We are preparing for our first match at the Olympic Games. At the hotel where we are staying, there are four other teams. It feels like an Olympic village.

Yesterday was our first training session in Lyon, and I see that I don’t need to catch up in terms of physical preparation. I trained with my team and the sessions were tough, so I’m confident that I’m ready.

At the Olympic Games, we want to go as far as possible. When we were at EURO 2023 with this team, we didn’t believe we’d make it that far. But here we are, so I hope we can create a miracle at the Olympics," said Arseniy Batagov.

Midfielder Vladyslav Veleten also talked about the first training session in Lyon.

"There wasn’t a heavy load in the first training session. We worked on set pieces, but the intensity will increase tomorrow. We are preparing for the opening match, but we haven’t analyzed our first opponent, Iraq, yet. We’ll see. I hope we can play as the dominant team.

I believe all the guys are coming into the tournament in their best form. There were some poor performances in the friendly matches, but we’ve analyzed them. It’s good that these issues happened in the friendlies, and I hope they won’t occur again," emphasized Vladyslav Veleten.

Official Roster of Ukraine's Olympic Football Team for the 2024 Games

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders

Forwards

The list includes 22 players, with four reserved spots.

According to the regulations, players born after January 1, 2001, are eligible to participate. Additionally, each team can include three players who are older than this age.

2024 Olympics. Men's Football Tournament

Group A: France, USA, Guinea, New Zealand.

Group B: Argentina, Morocco, Iraq, Ukraine.

Group C: Uzbekistan, Spain, Egypt, Dominican Republic.

Group D: Japan, Paraguay, Mali, Israel.

Group B Schedule

July 24, 2024

Argentina vs Morocco (16:00, Saint-Étienne)

Iraq vs Ukraine (20:00, Lyon)

July 27, 2024

Argentina vs Iraq (16:00, Lyon)

Ukraine vs Morocco (18:00, Saint-Étienne)

July 30, 2024

Ukraine vs Argentina (18:00, Lyon)

Morocco vs Iraq (18:00, Nice)

All match times are in Kyiv time.