The head coach of Ukraine's beach soccer team, Mykola Kostenko, commented on the draw results for the group stage of the III European Games.

At the European Games in Poland, Ukraine's beach soccer national team will compete in Group B alongside Switzerland, Italy, and Moldova. The coach of the blue-and-yellow team, Mykola Kostenko, evaluated our group opponents.

"As is known, the draw was conducted such that teams were paired from four pots. In the first pot were Poland and Switzerland, and we ended up with the Swiss. They won Euroleague-2022 and finished third at the 2021 World Championship, so this is an experienced and very strong team. However, it's important not to forget that Poland are the hosts of the event. This is an ambitious team that always thoroughly prepares for major tournaments, and they have all the conditions for doing so. So we can't say definitively that we drew a bad lot with Switzerland. The Swiss are certainly one of the favorites in these games, but it would also be tough against Poland. It will be pleasant to play against one of the best teams in the world.

As for the pot with Italy and Spain, I have this subjective opinion that Spaniards are always better prepared at the start of the season. Probably, in this pair, Spain is a stronger team, and it would be slightly more difficult to play against them. But we will not underestimate Italy either. This is a team with the best climatic conditions for preparation. At the moment, they are undergoing changes in their lineup, but there are stars among them as well. In other words — one of the top teams in Europe.

And the last pot — with Moldova and Azerbaijan. These are national teams roughly at the same level, perhaps even more experienced Azerbaijani players since they played in Division A of Euroleague. Now we know that they are intensively preparing for the European Games. Moldova is an average team, but these competitions give such teams additional motivation to prepare well and perform successfully.

If we take our group as a whole, it's a very interesting quartet. If tournament organizers don't change anything in the schedule, then our first match will be against Italy. And for us, this will almost be a decisive game at the group stage. We need to prepare for it as best as possible."

Recall that both men's and women's beach soccer tournaments at the 2023 European Games will take place from June 27 to July 1 in Tarnów, Poland.

According to the tournament rules, men's national teams will play a round-robin group stage, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semifinals. The losers will compete for 5th-8th places.