The youth national team of Ukraine beat Slovakia in the return match of the play-offs for the U-21 Euro-2023 selection and will play at the European Championship for the third time in history.
Photo: uaf.uaEuro-2023 U-21 qualifying cycle. Playoff round. The second match
UKRAINE U-21 — SLOVAKIA U-21 — 3:0 (0:0)
Goals: Sikan (48, 54, 66)
Ukraine: Trubin, Sych, Talovyerov, Syrota, Drambaev, Kryskiv (Zhelizko, 89), Bondarenko (K) (Ocheretko, 89), Mykhaylenko (Brazhko, 46), Vyunnyk (Nazarenko, 46), Sikan (Vanat, 71), Sudakov.
Slovakia: Belko, Dyatko, Nemczyk, Obert, Mesyk, Lavrynchik (Golyan, 62), Pokorny (K), Kadak (Myslovych, 62), Kapralyk (Trusa, 70), Strelets (Halchyk, 81), Suslov.
Four days ago, in Zhilin, the "blue-yellow" lost with a score of 2:3. As a result of the Russian invasion, our team had to host the Slovaks in the return match in the Polish city of Bielsko-Biala. Ruslan Rotan made three changes in the composition of the Ukrainian youth team, in particular, Drambaev replaced the disqualified Vyvcharenko.
The Slovaks created the first dangerous moment - in the 10th minute, after our mistake in defense, Suslov shot from close range, but Trubin saved. The Ukrainians tried to attack more, in particular, during one of the raids, Sikan brought Sych into a striking position, but the goalkeeper proved to be stronger in close combat.
In the first half, the opponents had the initiative, Suslov and Kapralyk shot through the goal. Towards the end of the opening 45 minutes, our boys responded with Bondarenko's kick in the area and an inaccurate free kick by Sudakov.
However, after the break, "blue-yellow" removed all questions in this pair. In the 48th minute, Sudakov threw a free kick to Sych, who passed Sikan into the empty net. 1:0. Soon, Drambaev's shot after Sych's cross was parried by Belko, but the same Sikan was the first to finish. 2:0. Finally, in the 66th minute, Danylo scored a hat trick - Kryskiv picked off an opponent, broke into the penalty area and assisted the forward. 3:0.
After that, the Slovaks had their moments. In particular, Trubin pulled Dyatka's shot, Suslov hit the post from the penalty spot, and Golyan failed to send the ball into the empty frame. However, the opponents did not manage to score at least one goal. Moreover, our boys could well score the fourth ball.
In the end, Ruslan Rotan's wards defeated the Slovaks and made it to the final tournament, which will take place in June-July next year in Romania and Georgia. This will be the third European Championship for the Ukrainian "youth" in history after Euro-2006 and Euro-2011. The draw for the final tournament will take place on October 18 (starting at 19:00 Kyiv time).
