The head coach of the Ukrainian youth team (footballers born no later than 2007) Dmytro Mykhailenko talked about the team’s readiness for the Euro-2026 (U-19) qualification round.
Dmytro Mykhailenko (photo: uaf.ua)— Mr. Dmytro, what is the mood ahead of the official matches, and were you able to enlist all the players to the squad?
— Everything is good, and all the boys are eager to perform at their best. Regarding human resources, practically everyone we wanted to see is in the lineup. Only Artem Stepanov was called up to the youth team because he is more needed there now, and Bohdan Olychenko was injured, so we are urgently looking for his replacement.
— How well have you studied your opponents?
— The coaching staff has sufficient information about the opponents. All the teams in our group are roughly of the same level.
— However, can the blue-and-yellows be called the favorites of the group?
— On paper, maybe it looks that way, but only the matches themselves will show what everyone is worth. Football is equalizing. If in the past with teams of different age categories we passed some opponents relatively easily, it has changed a lot now; the competition has increased.
— Is it difficult to start the tournament with a match against the host (the Albanian national team. — Author’s note)?
— For me, it doesn’t matter. I believe in my players and our game. If the team plays at its true level, everything will be fine.
— Is the primary task of the Ukrainian national team to finish in first place or just to advance to the next stage of the competition?
— Our goal is to advance to the next round of the European Championship qualifiers. And from which place, that is not so important.
