The youth team of Ukraine (U-21) held a friendly match against Slovenia today in Turkey as part of their preparation for the final tournament of Euro-2025 (U-21).
Friendly match
UKRAINE (U-21) — SLOVENIA (U-21) — 1:1 (1:1). On penalties — 5:6
Goals: Veletien (15) — Begic (5).
Ukraine (U-21): (1st half) — Neshcheret, Kuzik, Mykhavko, Salyuk, Krupsky, Rubchinsky, Tsarenko, Brazhko, Krushinsky, Veletien, Krasnopir; (2nd half) — Neshcheret, Kuzik (Vivcharenko, 77), Mykhavko, Kozyk, Roman, Varfolomieiev, Yatsyk, Khlan, Fedor, Bragaru, Yunik.
Slovenia (U-21): Leban (Stublyar, 46), Begic (Pechar, 80), Ristic (Lampreht, 80), Ratnik, Kuzmich, Ostrach (Selan, 80), Cipot (Potocnik, 80), Yevshenak (Pishek, 67), Brest, Gradishar (Bozil, 67), Jovanovic.
The charges of Unai Melgosa started the match in Antalya poorly. Already in the 5th minute, Volodymyr Brazhko made a mistake near his own penalty area, and the Slovenians immediately took advantage of it. The ball was received by Tjas Begic, who beat Ruslan Neshcheret with a shot under the crossbar.
However, the "blue and yellows" quickly recovered and executed a textbook attack in the 15th minute. Boris Krushinsky received a pass from Anton Tsarenko on the left flank and crossed into the center of the penalty area for a shot by Vladyslav Veletien, who did not miss. 1:1.
After the break, Unai Melgosa made a total of eight substitutions, and our team began to control the ball more confidently. In the 59th minute, the Ukrainians had a chance to take the lead, but a good shot from Maksym Khlan to the near post was parried by Lovro Stublyar.
The Slovenians responded in the 83rd minute with a sharp counterattack that ended with a shot from David Bozil hitting the post of our goal. The opponents could not do more. As a result, the match ended in a draw — 1:1.
After the match, the teams decided to determine the stronger side in a penalty shootout. The Slovenians were more accurate — 6:5.
The next friendly match in Turkey will take place on March 25 against Poland.
It’s worth reminding that this summer the youth national team of Ukraine, under the leadership of Unai Melgosa, will participate in the final tournament of Euro-2025 (U-21) in Slovakia, where they will play against teams from Denmark (June 12), Finland (June 15), and the Netherlands (June 18) in the group stage.
