The head coach of the Ukrainian youth national team, Unai Melgosa, spoke about what it means for him to play at Euro during the war.
Unai Melgosa. Photo: uefa.com"What does it mean for me to play at Euro with the Ukrainian national team? In Spain, journalists always ask me about this. I don’t want to make this the main focus, because if I concentrate too much on this, the players will do the same. But the war will definitely not be an excuse for us.
We know how hard it is for Ukrainians right now. I talk to the players and often ask: "How are you? How is your family?" This applies not only to the players but also to all the staff. I want to know what people feel, how they react to what is happening.
But the players are very focused; they don’t often talk about these topics. My main message is yes, I think about the people in Ukraine. I have friends from Ukraine since my time working at "Dynamo". They helped me and my family a lot. I often think about them and want the war to end, for people to stop suffering, and to start living a normal life.
Playing at Euro together with Ukraine is a huge honor for me and a significant event in my life. I am very grateful to Rebrov, Shevchenko, and the people from UAF. I will do everything I can for the Ukrainian national team to perform successfully in Slovakia.
In the last two years, Ukrainian football has had significant successes. The U-17 and U-19 teams played at Euro, and the Olympic team played at the Olympics for the first time. And now we want to give Ukrainians some joyful moments at Euro," Melgosa said.
