Former player and coach of Kyiv’s Dynamo, Oleksiy Mykhailychenko shared his impressions after the U-20 World Cup 2025 match in which the Ukraine team lost to Spain (0:1).
Oleksiy Mykhailychenko— Oleksiy Oleksandrovych, what did you think of our youth team’s game yesterday? It seemed that they weren’t just sitting back in defense, but they also didn’t please us in attack and lost to Spain, who aren’t that strong.
— Honestly, I didn’t see the game from our guys at all. Who will we discuss — the Spaniards?
— Did our youth team completely disappoint you yesterday?
— I found it strange that Spain made it to the Round of 16 at the World Cup from third place, because this country’s youth and junior teams have always been very strong. However, after watching the game yesterday, I understood everything — there’s nothing terrifying about this year’s Spain, yet we lost to them…
— Why do you think that is?
— It’s very simple: the Ukrainians couldn’t play on the counterattacks. They weren’t there, especially in the first half. In the second half, there were attempts, but… I expected more from our team. I’m disappointed. There was a lack of movement, speed, aggression; they didn’t keep the ball, especially before halftime. Ukraine could have lost by a bigger margin if our opponents had capitalized on their chances at the end of the game.
— What do you think about the situation with the disqualification of Hennadiy Synchuk?
— In my opinion, it’s not the coach’s fault, because he’s occupied with other matters. Such moments should be handled by his assistants or other members of the Ukrainian national team staff, not the head coach, I repeat. Maybe the administrator should have kept an eye on it, I don’t know... This issue is very complex — who is to blame.
— Who, based on the match against Spain, can be called the best among the Ukrainians?
— I didn’t see a match MVP, as they say for the best player after national team matches. There was no leader on the field yesterday.
— Dynamo player Matviy Ponomarenko was on the field against Spain; what did you think of his performance?
— I didn’t see what I expected from him. I consider his substitution in the second half justified because he somehow didn’t fit into the game plan. However, we shouldn’t criticize Ponomarenko, as the team didn’t play for him. Ukraine didn’t have moments up front. Our guys were mainly focused on trying to dismantle Spanish attacks.
As for the goal conceded by Ukraine, it’s a result of not managing to mark the opponents' players personally, and in the penalty area, players need to engage one-on-one until the end of the attacking play — that’s the rule.
— In the second half, Ponomarenko was replaced by Pyshchur, but Alexander didn’t turn out to be a joker for Mykhailenko either.
— He’s a dependent player, let’s say. He needs crosses, passes from teammates, and they weren’t there. Pyshchur didn’t play any better or worse than Ponomarenko, in my opinion.
— Recently, there was information that scouts from Barcelona are watching our national youth team goalkeeper Kropyvtsov! What do you think of Vladyslav’s performance in this year’s World Cup and in general in the games you’ve seen?
— He plays well with his feet and was reliable in some moments during the World Cup. However, I find it hard to evaluate goalkeepers. It’s not my area. Even when I worked as a coach, I entrusted this task to a specialized person — the goalkeeper coach.
Oleg Leonchuk
