Head coach of the Ukraine U-19 team Dmitro Mykhaylenko gave a comment after the victory over Serbia in the second round of Euro-2026. With six points earned in two rounds, our youth national team advanced to the semi-finals of the European Championship and secured qualification for the World Cup U-20 in 2027.

- When the final whistle blew, did you want to jump or cry?

- To jump. I was very happy, honestly. I couldn't even imagine that we would solve the task in two rounds and qualify for the World Cup. Quite confidently, I could say. We earned six points in such a tough group. So I am very proud of each boy. Proud of the staff who worked hard.

Right now, at this moment, I am the happiest person. Because it's not as easy as it seems. This was a long journey, as I said before the game. It's not just these two weeks we worked in Poland or these two games. To get here, you had to move a lot of coal.

- Vitaliy Glut – in one word how would you describe him?

- It's a surprise. A surprise for us and I think it was also a surprise for him. He joined the team literally three days before departure. We saw that we needed more players in better physical condition, at another level. So we just said there is Vitalik Glut, whom I met two weeks ago in Croatia back in 2008. We brought him in and his club released him. We thought he would play from the bench for about 15-20 minutes because we know his qualities. But it turned out that we gave him to start and today he was simply fantastic.

- The fact that we concede first in two consecutive matches and then come back – is this a sign of class or character?

- It's more a sign of character. And the right reaction to this conceded goal. We didn't panic, we didn’t speed up the game or make mistakes. We played what we wanted and agreed on before the match.

The conceded goal is an error that we would like to avoid in the future. Because the game was under our control; Serbia was retreating and didn't know how to take possession of the ball. We needed to keep it secure and control the game. Unfortunately, we conceded a goal. But the team's reaction was excellent. They started creating opportunities, gained confidence, dominated.

And one more thing I would like to add: in today's lineup five players were from 2008. A year younger. This also speaks about the potential of our youth football overall.

- Up next is a match against Italy. Do you have the desire to finish first in the group?

- There is a desire to finish first. I think there's also a desire to give minutes to players who didn't play. Because that’s important too for them to be fresh. So now we will go back to the hotel and figure things out. We'll look at the data – how hard the boys worked. And then we’ll make decisions. But when you win, it's always easier to recover.