Dmytro Mykhailenko: "I feel like we’ll face France"

22.07.2024 00:37

Ukraine U-19 head coach Dmytro Mykhailenko commented on his team’s 3:2 victory over Italy in the third round of the group stage at EURO 2024 (U-19).

“I was very calm throughout the match because there was already a lot of emotion on the pitch. The guys were very excited, and at 2:2, emotions outweighed common sense. So I forced myself to stay calm and keep an eye on the game. We made the necessary changes during the break. Not everything was going our way.

We understood that it didn’t make sense for Italy to use the same lineup for all three matches, especially since they had already advanced to the semifinals and would be playing on natural grass on the 25th. We saw that six or seven Italian players had been working in the gym that morning, so it became clear. But I want to point out that while Italy has players who significantly impact the game, the level of the players who took the pitch today was also very high.

Unfortunately, Matkevych, Ponomarenko, and Vashchenko will miss the next match. These are the rules, and they are quite strange. For instance, two of our players missed the first match against Northern Ireland, which had not played any matches at all, while we had games counted from both the qualifiers and the elite round. But the conditions are the same for everyone...

Achieving our goal of reaching the World Cup and finishing second in the group is certainly a relief for us. If we had finished third, it would have been very difficult, especially with the players who are suspended and injured. We will go into the next match with full intensity but with a sense of having accomplished something.

We were very energized by the support here and from Ukraine. We felt it. We knew we were playing for every Ukrainian. It’s from the heart.

I have watched the matches of both the French and Spanish teams. The French are very strong individually, while the Spanish play more as a team. I have a feeling we’ll face France,” Mykhailenko noted.

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

15.07.2024

Italy 2:1 Norway

Northern Ireland 0:0 Ukraine

18.07.2024

Norway 0:0 Ukraine

Northern Ireland 0:3 Italy

21.07.2024

Norway 2:0 Northern Ireland

Ukraine 3:2 Italy

Group A standings

Group B: Spain, France, Turkiye, Denmark

16.07.2024

Denmark 1:2 Spain

France 2:1 Turkiye

19.07.2024

Denmark 2:4 France

Turkiye 1:1 Spain

Group B standings

22.07.2024

Turkiye vs. Denmark (21:00, Belfast)

Spain vs. France (21:00, Larn)

25.07.2024

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

A3 vs. B3 (18:30, Belfast)

Semifinals

Italy vs. B2 (16:00, Belfast)

B1 vs. Ukraine (21:00, Belfast)

28.07.2024

Final

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

Match times are in Kyiv time.