On December 3 in Bratislava, the groups for the final tournament of Euro-2025 (U-21) were formed. The youth national team of Ukraine ended up in group D along with the teams of the Netherlands, Denmark, and Finland. The head coach of the blue and yellow team, Unai Melgosa, shared his impressions of the draw results with the UAF press service:
Unai Melgosa. Photo: UAF press service— All teams represented at the European Championship, just like ours, have quite a high level. The opportunity to play against these national teams is important for our collective and individual development.
— What do you think of each of the opponents?
— All participants qualified for Euro based solely on their merits. Therefore, we treat all opponents with maximum respect. From now on, we will get to know them more thoroughly, and later I will have a more formed opinion about their potential. But I emphasize the axiom: names are not important; what matters is the team’s play.
— Have you seen any matches of the opponents in the qualifiers?
— Only highlights, but we will now start purposefully gathering video materials.
— Do you agree that Ukraine being in the second pot slightly eased the situation during the draw?
— You never know how it will turn out. We do not focus on this.
— What conclusions have you drawn from the group stage of the qualifiers? Why, in your opinion, did you not finish in first place?
— We are primarily focused on the development of the players. In this sense, I believe that we made progress during the qualifiers. As for the first place, England scored more points than we did, hence they are ahead. We must not only look at the last two games, in which, by the way, I think we could have achieved a better result, but consider the achievements throughout the entire tournament distance. In any case, we accept what happened and try to learn lessons from it.
Please comment on the friendly matches of the youth national team of Ukraine against Portugal (3:3) and Italy (2:2) in November. What information for reflection did they provide to the coaching staff?
— These were very interesting 10 days. We saw new players and the evolution of the team between the two games. Some players took a step forward that could help them in their personal development. As a coach, I am grateful for their work and hope that they will continue to move in the same direction to make my task of selecting players for the European Championship more challenging.
— What are the preparation plans for our team for the final tournament of Euro-2025 next year?
— We will take advantage of the FIFA window in March to play a few friendly matches, and then, after the UPL finishes, we will focus on the direct preparation for the forum in Slovakia.
