Ukraine's youth national team played a friendly match against Morocco (U-23), which, by the way, is the future rival of the Ukrainian Olympic team at the 2024 Summer Games in France. The game took place in Antalya, Turkey, at the Mardan Stadium.
Friendly match
Ukraine (U-21 ) - Morocco (U-23 ) 1: 0 (1: 0)
Goal: Ocheretko (19)
Ukraine: (1st half) - Neshcheret, Krupskyi, Slyubyk, Batahov (K), Smolyakov, Ocheretko, Krusynskyi, Bragaru, Rubchynskyi, Khlan, Horbach; (2nd half) - Kinareikin, Roman, Saliuk, Pavliuk, Smolyakov, Varfolomeiev, Yatsyk, Kvasnytsia, Pastukh, Voloshyn (K), Krasnopir.
The match started in an equal contest with no chances until Ocheretko opened the scoring in the 19th minute with a free-kick from outside the box. Later, Gorbach scored with an inaccurate attempt, then El-Wazzani went out to meet Neshcheret, but missed his chance. Subsequently, Begravi did not take advantage of a mistake at the blue-and-yellow goal, hitting too weakly.
In the 33rd minute, Hlan intercepted the ball and broke into the penalty area, but his shot was blocked. The Moroccans responded with a dangerous shot by El Wahdi, which Nescheret dealt with. Before the break, we can note Bragar's inaccurate long-range attempt.
During the break, the coach of the Ukrainian "youth" Unai Melgosa changed almost the entire composition of our team. The second half began with an unsuccessful action by the Moroccan goalkeeper, when the ball almost flew into the goal by a ricochet. Later, Voloshin headed wide from a good position. In the 64th minute, Kvasnytsia took a great free kick, but the goalkeeper parried his shot.
The Moroccans responded with a pass from Ezzalzouli, who failed to beat Kinareikin from a sharp angle. Soon after, the Ukrainians launched a counterattack, which Pastukh ended with a shot into the goalkeeper's hands, and later Krasnopir scored on target. The opponents responded with a shot by El-Wahdy, to which Kinareikin reacted. At the end of the match, the blue and yellows blocked a dangerous shot by Begrave. Later, he sent the ball into the net, but did so from offside. As a result, the Ukrainians held on for a 1-0 victory.
It will be recalled that on 26 March, as part of the 2025 UEFA European Youth Championship qualifiers, Azerbaijan will play Ukraine at the Azersun Arena in Baku. The match will start at 14:00 Kyiv time. Currently, with five wins in five matches, Unai Melgosa's team confidently leads the Group F table.
