Head coach of Dynamo U-19 Igor Kostiuk commented on the away match of his players in the youth championship against Kolos from Kovalivka and the final draw of 0:0.
Igor Kostiuk (photo: fcdynamo.com)— We were satisfied with the players’ attitude towards this game. We asked Kolos to postpone the match by a day, but they did not agree. It’s not a big deal. Overall, today we had the advantage, but it was noticeable that Kolos is better adapted to this field, as they train on it. Those extra touches on the ball that we made during control allowed the opponent to reset, but at the same time, we created enough dangerous moments; however, I repeat, those extra touches and the quality of our shots did not allow us to convert them. The one who scores wins, and we ended in a draw today. Of course, this loss of points is disappointing.
We pressed the opponent’s goal; in the first half, there was a moment when the ball hit the opponent's hand in the penalty area, and Ivan Andreika was also fouled — in my opinion, both moments should have resulted in a penalty. But the referees made a different decision; that's up to them. It's a shame we didn’t win.
— After the UEFA Youth League match, did you have enough time to recover and prepare for the game against Kolos?
— We did not feel that problem. Today’s game was quite good in terms of dynamics and mobility; everyone maintained the necessary rhythm. The guys endured the first minutes, and then we completely dominated. There are no issues with physical condition; we recovered, everything was on time, and we performed normally. The only thing is we did not convert our moments. There’s no point in looking for reasons after the battle.
— Last season, Dynamo U-19 lost to Kolos in both matches; why are Kolos such an uncomfortable opponent for our team?
— They are a good, organized team. I repeat, because they train on this field, it was a bit easier for them. It was evident that they are better adapted in working with the ball — this was noticeable in bounces, pickups, and how the ball jumps. In short, they were better oriented in key moments on this field.
— Will you now have the usual weekly preparation cycle for the match against Oleksandriya?
— Not quite, the cycle will be a bit shorter than a week. We have a game on Friday — four days from now.
