In mid-May, the Ukrainian women's youth team WU-19 will participate in League A matches of the second qualifying round for Euro 2022 in Austria. In addition to the hosts, their opponents will be Norway and Bulgaria. The group winner will qualify for the final tournament, while the bottom team will drop to League B.

As head coach of the Ukrainian women's youth team Valeriy Palamarchuk said in a comment on the official website of the UAF, Russia's aggression against Ukraine has made its adjustments and forced UEFA to reschedule our group matches from April to May.

— When are you planning to depart for Austria?

— We plan to leave Kiev by bus on May 7. Although we have not yet decided on the route — whether to travel through Poland or Slovakia. The matter is that of those 18 footballers who were called up, only two are currently in Ukraine. These are Anastasiia Dovganiik from "Ladomir" (Vladimir-Volynskyi) and Bohdana Gryga from Kyiv's "Dynamo". Others play abroad, mostly for Polish and Slovakian clubs. By the way, Bohdana is the only newcomer in our team. Also, I hope there will be no problems with the arrival of leaders — Yuliia Khristyuk and Nadia Ivanchenko, who study in the USA and play for local teams.

— The situation is such that your wards will have to play in Austria without a traditional preparatory camp…

— You know, when there's war in your country, you don't even pay attention to it. I constantly communicate with the players, and all of them adhere to the idea that the most important thing is to start the tournament, while we will restore game connections during official matches. Moreover, the most important match — against Bulgaria, where one team will retain their place in the elite division — is the final one. However, this by no means implies that in the first matches, against hosts and Norwegians, we are planning to be mere spectators.

By the way, the locations of the games in Austria have changed. On May 10, we will face Norway in Wales, three days later we will play with the hosts in Bad Wimsbach-Naidharting. In this same town on May 16, we will settle accounts with Bulgaria. Originally it was planned that the matches would take place in Lindabrunn and Traiskirchen.

— What information do you have about your opponents?

— The chances of the Austrian and Norwegian teams, who are remembered for their skillful handling of set pieces, are somewhat higher. By the way, we played with the Austrian side last October in the Netherlands during the first qualifying round for Euro 2022; we conceded a goal in the final minutes and lost — 0:1. In my opinion, these teams have some advantage due to playing practice, but our girls will try to level it out through self-sacrifice and game discipline.

As for Bulgaria, they are newcomers to a tournament of this level. Against them we will only aim for victory.