An electronic conference was held at the Football House. During the conference, UAF President Andriy Shevchenko congratulated the players and coaches of the U-19 national team, which won the right to play in the final tournament of the European Championship, which will take place in July in Northern Ireland.
The head coach of the Ukraine U-19 national team Dmytro Mykhailenko thanked Andrii Shevchenko for finding the opportunity to personally support the team during the first match of the elite qualifying round in Northern Macedonia.
"Thank you for personally congratulating the boys on their 2-0 victory over the tournament hosts. As for the next matches, while we expected such a result (3-0) with Latvia, the match with Switzerland was a real final. This team had beaten the Italians and Swedes in the previous qualifying round, showing very decent football.
But we were confident in our abilities and naturally won 3-0. Many thanks to all the players and coaching staff. We are really proud that we are Ukrainians and that we have achieved such success," said Dmytro Mykhailenko, addressing Andriy Shevchenko.
In turn, the UAF President said: "On behalf of myself and the entire association, the entire football community, I congratulate you! I was at your first match, I watched the rest of them in full. I really like the style in which you play. You guys are great! I think this is a very important step for you in your career, and I am very pleased that you as a team showed a very good result. You have shown that you want to play bright combination football - football that meets today's global trend.
I think each of you has your own ambitions. And this is very important. Because your career is built on such personal ambitions. However, the most important thing is the team. I can tell you from my experience: it's one thing to play for your club, and quite another to play for the national team. It is a completely different responsibility. The bar is immediately raised very high, both physically, technically and motivationally.
So I wish you to keep raising the bar in your career and to realise the ambitions you have. Both personal and team ambitions. I want to thank you once again! Now it is important for you to listen to the advice of the coaching staff and prepare well for the final tournament. For my part, I promise you full support from the Ukrainian Football Association."
The final tournament of Euro 2024 will take place on 15-28 July in Northern Ireland with the participation of eight national teams. The draw will take place on 17 April in Belfast (starting at 17:00 Kyiv time).
All the participants in this forum have already been determined. In addition to Northern Ireland, Ukraine, Italy (the reigning champion), France, Spain, Turkey, Norway and Denmark will take part in the tournament. The hosts will take a place in the A1 starting position, while the other teams will be divided into two groups. The top two teams from each quartet will advance to the semi-finals. The final will take place on 28 July in Belfast at Windsor Park.
There will be no match for third place, but the fifth place match will take place, as Europe will delegate five representatives to the 2025 U-20 World Cup, which will take place in Chile with the participation of 24 teams. So the four semi-finalists will be joined by the winner of the match between the third teams of the groups. Like the semi-finals, it is scheduled for 25 July.