In June and July, the focus for football fans will be the European Football Championship 2023 (U-21). It will be held in the stadiums of Romania and Georgia. The Youth national team of Ukraine will appear there. Our boys have successfully completed the qualifying round in the group, in which her rivals were teams: France, Northern Macedonia, Faroe Islands, Serbia, and Armenia. In their group, the Ukrainian team took second place, and after France, won a ticket to the final tournament.
Ruslan RotanSilver medal at the 2006 UEFA European Championship
Our youth team played their first match in history on October 28, 1992, in Ternopil, and played 0-0 draw against their peers from Belarus.
The boys celebrated their greatest victory 8-0 against Armenia in Kyiv on 13 October 1998.
On 8 October 2021, the Ukrainian national team lost in Brest to France 0:5.
The record of the national team (U-21) in terms of the number of games played is held by Artem Milevskiy (31 matches).
The top scorer is Filip Budkovskiy (18 goals).
The highest achievement of the Ukrainian national team (U-21) - silver medals of the European Championship 2006.
He was a player of the national youth team, and now he is its coach.
Ruslan Rotan is the head of our team. He is 41. He was born in Poltava. Playing position - halfback.
At the club level he played in Dnipro, Dynamo (Kyiv), Slavia (Prague).
At the National team level: Ukraine Youth football team (U-21) - 2003, Ukraine National team (2003 - 20018).
Personal achievements: Champion of Ukraine (2007), Ukrainian Cup winner (2006, 2007), Ukrainian Super Cup Winner (2006, 2007), European Finalist (2015).
Coaching career. October-December 2018. - Assistant head coach of FC Olimpik (Donetsk). Since December 3, 2018. - Head coach of Ukraine's youth national team (U-21). A few months ago, Rotan's worries were added. He became the head coach of FC Oleksandriya, signing a 2.5-year contract.
Our national team will play their opening game in the UEFA EURO 2023 final group in Bucharest against Croatia. Spain and Romania will also face each other in Bucharest. The top two teams in the group advance to the next stage.
The top four teams at UEFA EURO 2023 qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games. However, the winner of one ticket is already known. It is the French team - the organizer of the Olympic Games in Paris.
Konstantin's dream
Konstantin Vivcharenko from Kyiv Dynamo plays safely in the defensive corps of our youth team. Here is a blitz-interview with him.
- Is a call up to the Youth national team for you?
- I'm proud to wear the jersey of the Ukraine national football team. It`s a great pleasure to play for this national team. I try to give my best in every match. I dream to get in the national team.
- Your football dream?
- To win the Champions League with Dynamo. With the youth team - the European Championship.
- Which stadium you`ve visited most of all?
- Camp Nou. I dreamed to visit it, and I have.
- If not football?
- Probably swimming. Coaches said that I had good talents. But I chose football.
- What did you buy with your first football salary?
- Bought my grandma a mobile phone.
- What do you collect?
- I'm not a collector.
- What should a footballer's wife be like?
- Gentle, caring, patient, a good mother to the child.
- What is your favourite music that inspires you?
- I'm a music lover. I listen to everything. Both old and new music.
- What three players you consider to be the best at the moment?
- It`s hard to answer at once. There are plenty of good masters. That's Leo Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Ansou Fathi.
We wish Konstantin Vivcharenko and his UEFA Youth team-mates a successful performance at UEFA EURO 2023.
Oleksandr LYPENKO for Dynamo.kiev.ua
