Head coach of our team Natalia Ignatovich shared her impressions about the competition in Finland, where her wards finished third:

— The tournament in Finland turned out to be very informative. We had an opportunity to see which game characteristics need improvement and what we lack in terms of physical preparation. Unfortunately, it has to be acknowledged that there is a noticeable gap.

— Our girls started with a confident victory over Estonia (3:0), but then suffered losses against Finland (1:7) and Slovakia (0:2). Could they have performed better?

— It all depended on the game. In the opening match, for about 15 minutes we were getting used to the artificial turf pitch. Then we played confidently and can only blame ourselves for not scoring more.

Before the match against Estonia, we had an opportunity to watch other participants play, and they made a very good impression, especially the Finns. I cannot say that they were taller than Ukrainians, but everything was done much faster and most importantly, the ball listened to them. Observing their technique, attacking runs, it even seemed unbelievable that these were 15-year-old girls.

After conceding a third goal, my wards no longer believed they could come back. This showed in their concentration, and the hosts went on to win comfortably. As for the final match against Slovakia, they won thanks to better physical condition. This allowed them to effectively play offensively and dominate in aerial duels.

— After the end of the tournament, what did you ask your wards to focus on in their future club training?

— We need to do everything much faster. Also, we lacked stamina for the entire match. Perhaps this is because at the UEFA Development Tournament we played two halves of 45 minutes each, while in Ukraine matches in this age group are limited to 70 minutes. And most importantly — ball control. Because when there are problems even with stopping the ball, all work goes awry. This was especially noticeable in the match against Finland, who skillfully played possession football and we instead of well-thought-out combinations near opponents' possessions received goals in our own net.