The first and very important international tournament for the Ukraine national beach soccer team in 2022 will be the qualification to the EuroLeague Superfinal, which will take place from June 30 to July 3 in Nazaré, Portugal. Currently, our team is actively preparing for the games at Kyiv's Hydropark and has already held its first friendly match, defeating the current Ukrainian champions, NC Beachsoccer (4:2).

The head coach of Ukraine's national team, Mykola Kostenko, announced an expanded squad for the qualification in Nazaré and commented on the preparation process.

Expanded Squad of Ukraine's National Beach Soccer Team

Goalkeepers: Denys Sobotyuk ("Alternativa"), Andriy Nerus ("Griffin"), Taras Kovalenko (NC Beachsoccer).

Field Players: Ihor Borsuk ("Levante", Spain), Andriy Borsuk ("Artur Music"), Oleh Shchytin, Oleg Zborovsky (both — NC Beachsoccer), Ivan Glutsyk, Oleksandr Korniychuk, Yuriy Shcheritsya, Dmytro Medvid, Maxim Voytok (all — "VIT"), Dmytro Voytenko, Andriy Pashko, Yaroslav Zavorotnyi, Ihor Levchenko, Oleh Sirenko, Oleksandr Kolesnikov (all — "Alternativa").

"The team is preparing according to a pre-planned schedule since the end of March. This week we will have four training sessions, and next week — three. Our trainings are in the morning, after which the boys work at their clubs. Last weekend we played a friendly match against the Ukrainian champions, NC Beachsoccer, as part of the Kyiv Cup opening tournament.

Currently, our training sessions have a mixed character. We pay great attention to physical condition: focusing on speed and strength qualities, special endurance. Next week we will work more on tactics. We plan to hold several more friendly matches against Kyiv teams.

Unfortunately, Oleh Zborovsky was injured in the match of the Kyiv championship. Of course, we all hope for his quick recovery. Igor Borsuk is not with us at the moment as he is in Spain. But we are in touch with him; we communicate and exchange messages. He trains with "Levante", plays in the Spanish league, Cup of Champions. Igor is in good shape, so we rely heavily on him.

We also have a debutant, Oleksandr Kolesnikov, called up to the national team for the first time. Ihor Levchenko was invited earlier but has not yet participated in official competitions. These 18 boys are candidates for the national team. Ultimately, only 12 players will be included in the qualification list for the EuroLeague Superfinal — two goalkeepers and ten field players.   

On June 28, we plan to depart for Portugal, and before that there will be two more training sessions. We plan to travel through Poland. By train to Przemyśl and then to Kraków, from where by plane. We have received permission to leave. We already have a schedule — the Ukraine national team is scheduled to play on July 1, 2, and 3, but against whom — we still do not know."

Meanwhile, BSWW confirmed the list of participants for EuroLeague-2022. In division A, in addition to Ukraine, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, France, Azerbaijan and Estonia will also participate.