Oleh Kuznetsov, the head coach of the U-19 youth national team (players not older than 2005), spoke about the results of the team's October training camp.
Oleg Kuznetsov (photo: uaf.ua)- I can definitely say that I will add the training camp to our national team's assets. The matches that took place will benefit the team before the qualifying round of the European Championship.
- Were you satisfied with the level of the Asian and African teams?
- Without a doubt. If a few years ago South Korea was in the second or third place in its region, now it has significantly improved. At the level of the youth national teams, this team looks very decent. Morocco is one of the best teams on the African continent, with almost all of its players playing in good European clubs. And Vietnam is a well-trained team, the players know what to do on the field. Perhaps the players are a little short, but they fight to the end... We would hardly find such games in Ukraine, so we can only express our gratitude to the UAF management for playing with such, so to speak, exotic teams.
- Can the defeat in the first match against South Korea be attributed to acclimatisation?
- To some extent, it is. It was just the third day of our stay there. In addition, it is worth noting that it took us a day to get to Warsaw, then we had an 11-hour flight to South Korea, and the time difference compared to Ukraine is six hours. I should also mention the food, which was spicy, not usual for us. However, I think that if we had played the first match against Vietnam, the result against the hosts might have been different.
- The Euro 2024 U-19 qualifying round starts in a month for your national team. How many per cent have you already decided on the squad?
- I won't say in percentage terms, but 17-18 players are in the clip. Although I understand that there may be force majeure circumstances, because someone may get injured or ill. It is important that we managed to see a lot of newcomers in action, so some of them may also be among those players who will go to qualification.
- When do you plan to start training in November?
- If the plans don't change, we leave Kyiv for Poland on the 11th. On the 12th we fly to Malta, and our first match is on the 15th.
