Webinar "Scouting in Football" from the Center for Football Education and Leadership
Yuriy Moroz: "Tough matches ahead as Croatia is a very strong opponent"
The Ukraine U-17 team (players born in 2008 or later) will play two friendly matches against Croatia in Rijeka.
From November 9 to 16, the Ukraine U-17 team will hold a training camp in Croatia, where they will face the local team twice, with matches scheduled for the 12th and 14th.
Head coach Yuriy Moroz shared the team’s plans for this stage of preparation.
— During this camp, we aim to improve the players' game quality and work on what we've focused on recently, — said Moroz. — We also plan to test some newcomers, whom we've been monitoring. Currently, these players meet the team’s level, which is why they are with us. For them — and all players — this is another opportunity to prove their competence.
At the same time, our coaching staff has already decided on about 70–80% of the lineup for the official matches. Who exactly? Let that be a question for the team itself, so the players stay motivated.
As for the upcoming friendlies with Croatia, we have some information, and we’ll present it to the players in a theoretical session. I can say this: we’re in for challenging games, as Croatia is a very strong opponent. The result? We’re not setting a goal to win at all costs. The quality of play is very important to us, and if we achieve the desired result, that would be even better.
Ukraine U-17 Squad
Goalkeepers: Ihor Kostenko (Benfica, Portugal), Fedir Tkachenko (Betis, Spain).
Defenders: Nikita Kalyuzhnyi, Yehor Kostyuk, Yaroslav Mylokost, Yehor Onishchuk (all — Shakhtar Donetsk), Arsen Zalypka, Dmytro Solomon, Oleksiy Piskun (all — Rukh Lviv), Mykyta Melnyk (Imolese, Italy), Oleksandr Tkachenko (Werder Bremen, Germany).
Midfielders: Pavlo Lyusin (Dynamo Kyiv), Artem Zubriy, Oleksandr Sereda (both — Shakhtar Donetsk), Rolan Mustafayev, Muhammad Dzhurabayev (both — Rukh Lviv), Yehor Koshchiy (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Mykola Petrovskyi (Stuttgart, Germany), Oleksandr Shyshkevych (Rio Ave, Portugal), Artem Muradyan (Borussia Mönchengladbach, Germany).
Forwards: Daniil Yurchenko (Dynamo Kyiv), Dmytro Zudin (Hajduk, Croatia).
It's worth noting that Ukraine's U-17 team achieved its objective in the first qualifying round of EURO 2025 (U-17), securing second place and advancing to the next stage, which will take place in the spring of next year.
EURO 2025 (U-17). Round 1. Group 4
October 9, 2024
Belgium — Kazakhstan — 3:1
October 12, 2024
Belgium — Kosovo — 2:1
October 15, 2024
Kazakhstan - Kosovo - 4:4
Standings
|
|
Team |
M |
W |
D |
L |
GD |
P |
|
1 |
Belgium |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
7—3 |
9 |
|
2 |
Ukraine |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
8—4 |
6 |
|
3 |
Kosovo |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
7—10 |
1 |
|
4 |
Kazakhstan |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
5—10 |
1 |
The top two teams from each group advance to the second round of qualifiers. Following this, 28 teams will compete in seven groups in League A in spring 2025 for seven spots in the final tournament, to be held in Albania in the summer. The host team automatically qualifies, although they will still participate in the qualifiers.
The remaining teams in the second round will compete in League B, aiming for spots in League A of the first qualifying stage for EURO 2027 (U-19).
It's worth noting that EURO 2024/2025 (U-17) serves as UEFA's qualifying tournament for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup, featuring 48 teams in Qatar.
