The Ukrainian youth team (football players born in 2008 or later) under the leadership of Volodymyr Samborskyi has completed its gathering in Sweden.

The Ukrainian youth team U-18 returned from Sweden, where they participated in an international tournament hosted by the country and also featuring teams from Norway and Denmark. The blue-and-yellow team was led by Volodymyr Samborskyi, who answered questions from the official website of the UAFA upon his return to Ukraine.

— Mr. Volodymyr, you were with the Ukrainian U-18 team at an international tournament where reputable European teams participated. How did everything go?

— The competition was organized on a good level. The opponents were of high quality, especially Sweden and Denmark. I also want to mention Norway. Perhaps someone will say that it's not the case based on the result, but in terms of play, this is a strong team, they just didn't get lucky somewhere.

For us, the main goal was to gain international experience, and we also wanted to see candidates for the team. And I can say that I am satisfied with how the players approached their tasks. We could have performed better, but again, no one set a goal of winning the tournament; there were specific objectives in the coaching staff. I don't want to make big statements, but this youth team has great potential.

— The Ukrainian team confidently won against Norway and Sweden, but then suffered a heavy defeat against Denmark. Is this related to squad rotation?

— Here I would call it a combination of factors. We did not prepare for the games as such, we worked in the planned training regime — that was the main thing. Moreover, we gave all players an opportunity to show themselves so we could see them in action. Yes, we studied our opponents, but again, the focus was on our game and fulfilling certain tasks during friendly matches.

However, I can confidently say that there is room for improvement in terms of preparing young football players. Our opponents differed in terms of combativeness, athleticism, decision-making speed; they showed what you could call adult-level football. From this perspective, we are a bit behind. But if the boys, even playing in Ukraine, demand more from themselves, many things can change for the better.

Matches of the Ukrainian youth team U-18 at the tournament in Sweden

04.09.2025

Ukraine — Norway — 6:1

06.09.2025

Sweden — Ukraine — 0:2

09.09.2025

Ukraine — Denmark — 0:3

Final standings