Dynamo midfielder tops the ranking of the best Ukrainian players under 19

The Golden Talent project has compiled a fresh ranking of Ukrainian football players born in 2004 and younger based on the results of a survey of more than 100 experts and the processing of their questionnaires. In March 2023, the Dynamo midfielder was recognized as the best Ukrainian football player of the U-19 age category.

Anton Tsarenko. Photo: fcdynamo.com

Young Anton Tsarenko is the best Ukrainian football player in March 2023 in the U19 age category. This was the decision of the collective jury of the Golden Talent project, which traditionally interviewed more than 100 experts, collected their questionnaires, calculated all the indicators and built a rating that took into account the March (and a little bit of February) performances.

would like to remind you that in February and March, Shakhtar and Rukh played their UEFA Youth League matches. In early March, Yuriy Moroz's U-17 team played in the elite round of the Euro-2023 qualifiers, and in late March, Serhiy Nagornyak's U-19 team played in the elite round of the Euro-2023 qualifiers. Unfortunately, both teams failed to make it to the final tournament.

In the UPL clubs at the beginning of 2023, players born in 2004 received more playing time. Anton Tsarenko, Andriy Buleza and Kyrylo Sigeev made their debut matches at the level of the elite division in the Ukrainian Championship (the latter two went on loan for playing practice).

It was Tsarenko and Buleza who were the main figures included by our experts in their questionnaires: Tsarenko - 92 times, Buleza - 82. However, the young Dynamo player received more than half of the mentions in the questionnaires at No. 1, while the Transcarpathian football player was more often ranked second and third. This resulted in a 60-point difference in the rating.

Bohdan Slyubyk, who started playing at the UPL level in the fall, rounded out the top three.

We would like to remind you that our experts are coaches, former players and specialized journalists.

The top five in the ranking were complemented by two representatives of the U-19 teams of the two top clubs in Ukraine. Both of them had a very productive season: forward Ihor Horbach scored three goals for Dynamo U-19 and one for the Ukraine U-19 national team, and attacking midfielder Anton Glushchenko scored four goals for Shakhtar U-19.

A large number of players in the ranking are represented by foreign clubs. This is not surprising given the war with the Muscovites. Many young pupils of domestic clubs, due to the danger and the fact that no youth championship was held in Ukraine in 2022, found themselves outside the country. And the most talented got places in strong teams of reputable clubs from leading European leagues.

The best U-19 footballers in Ukraine: March 2023