As part of a training camp in Croatia, the Ukrainian U-18 national team kicked off in an international friendly tournament.
International tournament in Croatia
Croatia U-18 — Ukraine U-18 — 2:0 (1:0)
Goals: Benkotic (30), Kusanuvich (87, penalty).
Ukraine: Baglai, Melnyk (Muradyan, 46), Kostyuk (Sherstuk, 62), Kalyuzhnyi (Bugay, 62), Zudin (Menshikov, 62), Lusin (C), Kutya (Sereda, 45), Milokost (Yasinskyi, 62), Andreiko (Derykony, 52), Martyniuk (Zubriyi, 46), Dzhurabayev (Fedorенко, 62).
Sent off: Radosh (Croatia, 42).
In the town of Poreč, the «blue-yellow» team played against the hosts of the competition — the Croatian team. In the 13th minute, the Ukrainians had a 100% chance to open the scoring, but Ivan Andreiko failed to beat the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation. Instead, in the 30th minute, an unfortunate mistake by the visitors' defender led to a ball interception, and Jona Benkotic from nearly the center of the field lobbed our goalkeeper Rostyslav Baglai, who had strayed far from the goal.
Unfortunately, the end of the first half was overshadowed by an unpleasant event for the Ukrainian team. Croatian midfielder Kreshimir Radosh made a very rough tackle against Ilya Kutya in the midfield, resulting in injury to our compatriot. He had to be evacuated by ambulance to the hospital.
The entire second half was played with our team having a numerical advantage, but despite this, they hardly created any dangerous moments. The Croatians defended well and even managed to score again. A defender of the «blue-yellows» held Tino Kusanuvich by his shirt inside the penalty area, and the latter confidently converted the penalty — 2:0.
The youth national team of Ukraine will play their next match in the tournament on October 11 against Wales.
