Youth teams’ victories
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
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Ukraine's national youth teams overcame the first qualifying stage and advanced to the elite round of the 2019 UEFA European Championships
Character at a crucial moment
The Ukraine U19 team led by the Shakhtar legend Serhii Popov topped their qualifying group. Five Miners played for the team: defender Nazarii Muravskyi, midfielders Mykhailo Mudryk, Artem Bondarenko and Klym Prykhodko, as well as striker Oleksii Kaschuk.
In the first match, the Ukrainians defeated Albania (1-0) thanks to a goal by Mudryk, and on the second game day, they lost to Norway (1-2). In the decisive match, the Blue-and-Yellows needed a victory over Slovakia, and they achieved the necessary result (4-1). One of the goals was netted by Mudryk.
Mykhailo Mudryk, midfielder of Shakhtar and 0f Ukraine U19:
- Words cannot express the emotions! Perhaps, you just need to experience it yourself to understand our joy. It so happened that in each meeting we created difficulties for ourselves, and then we overcame them. In the last round, we had to win with a two-goal difference, but we conceded one as early as in the 15th second. Perhaps, God sent us this test so that we could become even stronger and better. As a result, the team showed mettle, gathered their act together and scored four goals, which was enough to secure the top spot in the group. Now, we’re going to get fully focussed on the club affairs. I really want to get back to Shakhtar as quickly as possible and to appear in the nearest league game.
Performance of the Miners and the national team
Ukraine U17, led by Volodymyr Yezerskyi, also won in their qualifying group, delivering an incredible performance - 16 goals in three games. Nine Shakhtar players made a significant contribution to the success: goalkeeper Mykyta Turbaevskyi, defenders Daniel Egbujo, Antony Emery, Dmytro Avdeev, midfielders Heorhii Sudakov, Edward Kobak, Bohdan Viunnyk, Vladyslav Kobylianskyi, forward Danylo Honcharuk.
In the opening match vs Iceland, the Blue-Yellows were two goals behind just by the tenth minute, but they managed to turn the game around and reduce the meeting to a draw (2-2), with the decider being netted by Edward Kobak. In the second round, Ukraine thrashed Gibraltar (11-0), with Kobak and Honcharuk scoring goals before the break, and with Sudakov grabbing a hat-trick closer to the final whistle. In the third round, the Ukrainians defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina (3-2), and the first goal was scored by Heorhii Sudakov, who became his team's top scorer with four goals in the qualifying stage.
Heorhii Sudakov, midfielder of Shakhtar and Ukraine U17:
- We are happy to have advanced to the next stage from the group featuring some tough opponents. Each match was special in its own way: in the first game against the Icelanders, we made a comeback from 0-2, then we scored 11 goals against Gibraltar, and in the last round, in the top spot decider, we gathered all our strength and overpowered the strong Bosnia. In the elite round, we also want to get some decent opponents and will do everything to make it to the Euro finals.
In the spring, both teams will take part in the elite rounds of Euro 2019 in their age groups, where they will compete for the European Youth Championships berths.
The Ukraine U19 team led by the Shakhtar legend Serhii Popov topped their qualifying group. Five Miners played for the team: defender Nazarii Muravskyi, midfielders Mykhailo Mudryk, Artem Bondarenko and Klym Prykhodko, as well as striker Oleksii Kaschuk.
In the first match, the Ukrainians defeated Albania (1-0) thanks to a goal by Mudryk, and on the second game day, they lost to Norway (1-2). In the decisive match, the Blue-and-Yellows needed a victory over Slovakia, and they achieved the necessary result (4-1). One of the goals was netted by Mudryk.
Mykhailo Mudryk, midfielder of Shakhtar and 0f Ukraine U19:
- Words cannot express the emotions! Perhaps, you just need to experience it yourself to understand our joy. It so happened that in each meeting we created difficulties for ourselves, and then we overcame them. In the last round, we had to win with a two-goal difference, but we conceded one as early as in the 15th second. Perhaps, God sent us this test so that we could become even stronger and better. As a result, the team showed mettle, gathered their act together and scored four goals, which was enough to secure the top spot in the group. Now, we’re going to get fully focussed on the club affairs. I really want to get back to Shakhtar as quickly as possible and to appear in the nearest league game.
Performance of the Miners and the national team
Ukraine U17, led by Volodymyr Yezerskyi, also won in their qualifying group, delivering an incredible performance - 16 goals in three games. Nine Shakhtar players made a significant contribution to the success: goalkeeper Mykyta Turbaevskyi, defenders Daniel Egbujo, Antony Emery, Dmytro Avdeev, midfielders Heorhii Sudakov, Edward Kobak, Bohdan Viunnyk, Vladyslav Kobylianskyi, forward Danylo Honcharuk.
In the opening match vs Iceland, the Blue-Yellows were two goals behind just by the tenth minute, but they managed to turn the game around and reduce the meeting to a draw (2-2), with the decider being netted by Edward Kobak. In the second round, Ukraine thrashed Gibraltar (11-0), with Kobak and Honcharuk scoring goals before the break, and with Sudakov grabbing a hat-trick closer to the final whistle. In the third round, the Ukrainians defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina (3-2), and the first goal was scored by Heorhii Sudakov, who became his team's top scorer with four goals in the qualifying stage.
Heorhii Sudakov, midfielder of Shakhtar and Ukraine U17:
- We are happy to have advanced to the next stage from the group featuring some tough opponents. Each match was special in its own way: in the first game against the Icelanders, we made a comeback from 0-2, then we scored 11 goals against Gibraltar, and in the last round, in the top spot decider, we gathered all our strength and overpowered the strong Bosnia. In the elite round, we also want to get some decent opponents and will do everything to make it to the Euro finals.
In the spring, both teams will take part in the elite rounds of Euro 2019 in their age groups, where they will compete for the European Youth Championships berths.