Viktor Mykita: "Football during war has become a form of rehabilitation for defenders and a foundation for community development."
Dmytro Mykhailenko: "The Norwegians play very aggressively, press high, and are a very athletic team"
On the eve of tomorrow's second group stage match of EURO 2024 (U-19) against Norway, the head coach of the Ukraine U-19 team, Dmytro Mykhailenko, spoke to the media.
"Every match at the Euros is a separate story. All opponents play differently. The Norwegians play aggressively, press high, and are a very athletic team that doesn't allow for prolonged ball control and maintains a high tempo. We need to understand how we want to overcome their pressure, and how to create chances and bypass their athletic players. We reviewed all of this during our theory session today, and we have a video analysis scheduled for the evening. The coaches will do their work regarding tactical preparation, so the only thing left will be the psychological and emotional readiness of the team.
We had a good training session, but Hennadiy Synchuk didn't train. It will be hard for him to recover for the next game. He has a knee injury, and we don't yet understand how serious it is. Everyone else is preparing.
Of course, there's pressure due to the result, as this is a decisive game for both us and Norway. Everyone will be going into the match with only victory in mind.
We feel that people in Ukraine are following our performances, supporting us, and cheering for us. So we understand very well who we are playing for," noted Mykhailenko.
Group A standings
| Team | M | W | D | L | GD | P | |
| 1 | Italy | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2—1 | 3 |
| 2 | Northern Ireland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0—0 | 1 |
| 3 | Ukraine | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0—0 | 1 |
| 4 | Norway | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1—2 | 0 |
EURO 2024 (U-19)
Group A: Northern Ireland, Norway, Italy, Ukraine.
18.07.2024
Norway vs. Ukraine (17:30, Belfast)
Northern Ireland vs. Italy (21:00, Larne)
21.07.2024
Norway vs. Northern Ireland (21:00, Belfast)
Ukraine vs. Italy (21:00, Larne)
Group B: Denmark, Turkey, France, Spain.
July 16, 2024
Denmark vs. Spain (17:30, Larne)
France vs. Turkey (21:00, Belfast)
July 19, 2024
Denmark vs. France (17:30, Larne)
Turkey vs. Spain (21:00, Belfast)
July 22, 2024
Turkey vs. Denmark (21:00, Belfast)
Spain vs. France (21:00, Larne)
July 25, 2024
Playoff Match for World Cup 2025 (U-20)
A3 vs. B3 (18:30, Belfast)
Semifinals
A1 vs. B2 (16:00, Belfast)
B1 vs. A2 (21:00, Belfast)
July 28, 2024
Final
Winner 1 vs. Winner 2 (21:00, Belfast)
Match times are in Kyiv time.
