In the Ukrainian Youth Championship match against Veres, 16-year-old Volodymyr Ozymai made his debut for Dynamo. He played the last 10 minutes of the match.
Volodymyr Ozymai (far left). Photo by O. Novik, fcdynamo.comOzymai is one of the main talents born in 2007. When I saw him play for the first time, I realised that he would at least make it to the youth team. The boy is doing well in physics and anthropometry. At the age of 16, he is almost 190. He has long legs, which he uses in selection. Ozymai works well in the selection, knows how to impose a fight, create pressure on the opponent. He is somewhat similar in style to Serhiy Sidorchuk, but his potential is much greater. The guy has good leadership skills and self-confidence. No wonder he took the number ten shirt in matches for the youth national team.
In May, we had the first national team tournament of 2007 in Bratislava. It was an introductory tournament to get to know the candidates for the national team better during the U-17 Euro qualifiers. There are a lot of Ukrainians of this age in Europe now. Ozymai was one of the few representatives of Ukrainian clubs. He played in all three matches of Volodymyr Yezerskyi's team and left a very good impression.
I am very glad that Dynamo managed to keep Ozymai. Because in 2007 we lost a lot. Goalkeeper Oleksandr Petrenko is already playing for Bayer U-19. Defender Dmytro Varivoda plays for Almira in Austria. Forward Bogdan Popov was able to prove himself in Poland. He has interest from German and Italian teams. Another striker, Dmytro Bogdanov, plays for Dynamo Dresden. Even before the war, defender Savelii Kosse left for Olympiacos. In fact, since 2007, there have been only two real candidates for the first team - Ozymai and Oleksandr Ilchenko. The latter was at Hertha, but returned to the capital of Ukraine.
We must pay tribute to the coach of the youth team, Ihor Kostyuk. Dynamo's midfield is already very young. In a two-forward formation, two players born in 2006 - Kyrylo Osypenko and Danylo Ishchenko - play in the middle of the pitch. Despite the fact that five people born in 2004 can play. In youth competitions, every year is of great importance. At the age of 17, it is not very easy to play physically against 19-year-olds. In such a situation, Ihor Volodymyrovych not only noticed the talented midfielder, gave him the opportunity to train with the U-19s, but also gave him game practice. One of the main tasks of youth football is to prepare players for the first team.
I don't want to speculate about Ozymai's prospects. There have already been many stories when large advances were made, which later did not benefit the player. But, personally, I have great hope that Volodymyr Ozymai will grow up to the Dynamo first team and the national team of Ukraine.
Serhii Tyshchenko
