As part of the preparation for the III Euro Beach Soccer Games, the women's national beach soccer team of Ukraine will play friendly matches against teams from Poland and Portugal in June.

The head coach of the blue-and-yellow team, Yurii Klimenko, shared plans for preparation for the prestigious tournament.

"Starting on May 15, our team will hold a training camp in Kyiv. It will last until the 27th. Currently, we are reviewing potential candidates for the national team. Goalkeepers particularly interest us. At the moment, Oleksandra Kulyk from 'Kryvyi Rih' is working with us; she has a strong desire to play for the national team. We'll see her work during this microcycle and make our decision. The problem of having a second goalkeeper stands very sharply for us because several girls are unable to play for the team due to various reasons."

In Kyiv, we train in a double-session format, focusing on what the girls have slightly forgotten over the last half-year when the team did not assemble. We played an internal match and moved on to tactical-technical training and standard drills.

On May 30, we will travel to Poland with ten girls. Oleksa Malynovska will join us there. In this composition, we will hold a five-day microcamp in Gdansk. On June 1st and 2nd, we'll train in a double-session format, while on the 3rd and 4th, we'll play two friendly matches against Poland's national team. This team is the host of the Euro Beach Soccer Games and is currently working intensively to prepare for the tournament.

On June 5, we will fly to Portugal, train on the 6th, and then play two friendlies with the local national team on the 7th and 8th. In Nazaré, Irina Dubitska and Taisia Babenko will join us. So there will be approximately that composition with which we plan to head to the Euro Games. Portugal always has a good national team. Currently, Portuguese women are also going through preparation. These friendly encounters are very important for both of us.

Unfortunately, the draw for the European Games was not kind to Ukraine's national team. We ended up in a true group of death where, besides us, Spain and Italy will play. The second group is somewhat weaker, so whoever wins ours has great chances of winning the entire tournament.

After completing our camp, four girls—Anastasiia Terakh, Irina Dubitska, Myroslava Vypasnyak, and Oleksa Malynovska—will play for their clubs in the European Champions Cup.

Finally, I would like to add that it will be easier to work now because an assistant will help me until the end of the season. This is a young and promising coach, Artem Kryvoruchko, who understands beach soccer very well. So I hope for fruitful work," — said Yurii Klimenko.

Composition of Ukraine's Women's National Beach Soccer Team

Goalkeeper: Anastasiia Terakh. 

Field Players: Mariia Tikhonova, Myroslava Vypasnyak, Anastasiia Kalygina, Yuliia Dektiar, Oleksa Malynovska, Anastasiia Klipachenko, Yuliia Kostyuk, Hanna Davydchenko, Irina Vasyluk, Olena Kyrylchuk, Irina Dubitska, Taisia Babenko.  

As a reminder, in the group stage of the European Games in Poland, Ukraine's women's national beach soccer team will play in Group B alongside Spain and Italy. In another trio, Poland, Portugal, and Czech Republic will compete. The games will take place from June 27 to July 1 in Tarnów.

According to the tournament regulations, women's national teams at the group stage will play a round-robin format, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semifinals. The losers will compete for 5th-6th place.