The head coach of the Ukrainian U-21 national team Unai Melgosa talked about what he expects from the match against the Netherlands in the 3rd round of the group stage of Euro-2025 U-21.
Unai Melgosa (photo: uaf.ua)- On the physical condition of the players of the “youth team”
— All players are ready for the match. The only loss is Volodymyr, who will miss the game due to his expulsion, but all the others are eager and will give their maximum effort.
All teams are in the same situation as us — everyone finds it difficult in such fast-paced intense tournaments. We try to rotate, but after the first game against Denmark, it was essential for us to win if we wanted to continue the fight. However, in any case — I have the opportunity to rotate because I trust not only 11 or 13 players. We have more footballers. But in any case, everyone will be tired, and everyone will have to do additional work, because it’s not just about how you feel in your legs, but also in your head and heart.
- On the absence of captain Volodymyr Brazhko
— Of course, I wanted to have Vova in the squad for this match. But, you know, we have to understand that things don’t always go as we would like. We must face reality. So for me, it’s not a problem. He will help from outside the field, providing support. He is an authority for all the other players. So the footballers who will go on the field will do a quality job — that’s 100%. We won’t complain.
- On the opponents — the Netherlands national team
— The Netherlands is a very good team. They qualified first for Euro-2025, winning all their qualifying matches. Here they played two games, they had crazy chances in each of the two but couldn’t win. So this will be a difficult match, which is good for Ukrainians. It will provoke us to show our maximum — that’s one of the advantages of Euro, that we can play against such teams and show our best qualities.
- On Yegor Yarmolyuk
— First of all, Yegor is a good guy. He doesn’t behave as if he doesn’t want to listen to anyone. We always talk to him, he is open to new things. This is an important aspect for me.
Secondly, his ability to play excellent football. He knows how to work well with the ball, has good technique, creates opportunities for his teammates. He is a player who constantly works on the field, doesn’t slack off. He can create more in attack. Yegor can give a boost to the team, we are glad that he can help. It will be a good match for him.
Maxim Hudzynko
