Famous Ukrainian coach Oleh Fedorchuk shared his expectations from the performances of the Ukrainian youth national team at Euro-2025 (U-21).
Oleh Fedorchuk— Oleg Viktorovych, what should we expect from the Ukrainian national team (U-21) at Euro-2025? Many, drawing analogies from our national team before Euro-2024, believe that the team under Unai Melgosa is very strong and even stronger than that which Ruslan Rotan had. Almost the best team in general since the independence of our state.
— It’s hard to compare and say unequivocally which team is stronger: the one that was with Rotan or the one Melgosa currently has. This question is not straightforward.
However, the current “youth team” is definitely much better than the one that was under Oleksandr Petrakov, which won the World Cup in 2019. Although, maybe, it’s not a correct comparison since that was a U-19 team. We were all happy with Petrakov’s team’s success, but everything there was very modest in tactical terms. That’s why from that team, few players have really reached a high level now. Where is the defender Tsytaishvili (2024/25 season played on loan for the Spanish lower-league team “Granada,” — ed. note)? What does Supryaga show and when did he last score (last season Vladyslav played on loan for "Zorya." The last time Vlad scored was in August 2020, when "Dynamo" played away against Donetsk "Olympic" in UPL, 4:1, — ed. note)?
From the Ukrainian youth national team of 2025, there are many expectations. I think they can also make it to the top four, that is, reach the semi-finals. Repeating the success of Ruslan Rotan’s team is quite within Unai Melgosa’s capabilities. And maybe even surpass it. Ukraine must definitely come out of the group.
— And how do you compare the coaches — Rotan and Melgosa — which specialist’s methods resonate more with you?
— I will not compare these specialists, but I will say the following. Unai Melgosa works very well, in my opinion. He talks little, makes few promises, but performs his work qualitatively, the volume of which impresses me personally.
I am convinced that if Melgosa achieves good results with the youth team, he will certainly become the successor of Rebrov in the national team.
By the way, I know for sure that several clubs from UPL are already showing interest in the Spaniard. And not poor clubs.
Moreover, I personally expect to see confident, quality play from this youth national team. I want players to emerge from this team who will be playing for the national team on a regular basis in a year or two. It’s time for us to change some not very motivated players from the main team of the country. In my opinion, there are candidates in the youth national team for replacement.
— Who exactly are we talking about: who’s getting out, who’s coming in?
— I don’t want to raise a toast now, let’s say, for matches that have not yet been played. I don’t want to accidentally jinx anything or anyone. In the Ukrainian youth national team of 2025, all players are very gifted.
— A little more analogies. When the youth team was led by Rotan, it often happened that clubs, for objective and often subjective reasons, did not release the players he would like to see in his team.
In contrast, Melgosa has at his disposal the best striker of last season’s UPL, Vladyslav Vanat, and his teammate from "Dynamo," Taras Mykhavko. Sergei Rebrov could have taken Yegor Yarmolyk to the tournament in Toronto but did not do so. Could it be that the leaders of UAF realized that our youth team is our future?
— Various situations. For the Olympics-2024, for example, Rotanu was not given all the players he wanted because this was at a time when the summer club off-season was concluding. Often, the calendars of the youth and national teams almost overlapped. Yes, some clubs treated Rotan poorly, but they had their reasons and arguments.
— In the group stage, Ukraine will play against peers from Finland, Denmark, and the Netherlands. Who do you think is the most inconvenient opponent for our boys?
— The Ukrainian “youth team” poorly plays against teams that do not lag behind it in level. For some reason, Ukraine plays terribly against formally weaker opponents. In contrast, it plays excellently against strong teams. That’s the paradox.
So, I think it won’t be easy with the Finns and Danes, they seem to have two hearts each. They have very physically developed players in those teams. In contrast, they can likely handle the Dutch easily.
— Summary. Minimum and maximum tasks for our youth team at Euro-2025?
— The minimum is that Ukraine should reach the quarter-finals, the maximum is the semi-finals. If they make it to the finals — it will be above their heads. If they win at Euro — it will be a fantastic success.
— We will all be worried and fervently support Ukraine, that’s for sure, but who, in your opinion, is still the main contender for the gold medals of the youth Euro-2025?
— In my opinion, Spain, Portugal, Germany, or France. These teams have set the tone at the youth level for the last five years (over the last five years, the U-21 Euro has been won twice by the Germans (2017, 2021), once by the Spaniards (2019), — ed. note).
Viktor Glukhneky
