What do we know about the U-20 national teams? In 2019, the Ukrainian team of this age category won the World Championships in Poland. Then Alexander Petrakov’s team was able to reach the semi-finals of the Euro (U-19). Thanks to a successful game on the fields, Finland received a ticket to the World Cup.
Former Dinamo player and assistant coach Ognjen Vukojevic leads the Croatian national team (U-20). The team of this age does not have official matches, they only play sparring matches. Almost every country has a youth team of this age.
The essence of its existence is that from U-19 to U-21 it’s almost two years. At the age of 19, only a few get into the youth team of their country. They are waiting for the next qualifying round. It is clear that during this time a lot changes in the development of players. Some are developing, some are not developing, some are playing, and some lack playing practice. We need to keep an eye on everyone, so that when the U-21 team is formed, we already have all the information and the team plays as well as possible. Plus game practice for those who don’t make it to the youth team.
Now the Ukrainian national team (U-19) played the first round of qualifying for the Euro. The last time Oleg Kuznetsov’s team officially met was in April 2022. Before the qualifications there was also a tournament in Korea in October. In general, there was a pause of almost a year and a half. During this time, almost nothing remained from the national team that was in U-17. Some players have not made progress, some have injuries, some have no match practice, new players have appeared. We really missed the teamwork in Malta.
Last spring, the 2004 Ukrainian national team completed its performances. Sergei Nagornyak’s team failed to pass the elite round in Spain. From that team, only Yegor Yarmolyuk from Brentford is consistently called up to the youth team. Bogdan Slyubik and Ivan Varfolomeev also received calls. And everyone else is overboard. He currently plays in the youth team from 2002-2003. There is a lot of competition. There are interesting guys who have the potential to grow into the main team – Anton Tsarenko, Igor Gorbach, Bogdan Slyubik, Yuri-Vladimir Gereta, Evgeniy Pastukh, Oleg Fedor, Anton Glushchenko, Daniil Udod, Daniel Kivinda, Alexander Avramenko. Perhaps it is worth inviting players from 2003 who do not have playing experience in the youth team. They only play friendly matches anyway. All players will be under control. Then their transition to U-21 will be much easier.
In other words, we are talking about the system in youth teams. The U-20 team is a key step in the transition from youth to adult or youth football. At this age, the principles or basics by which the youth and national teams play can be taught so that the players quickly adapt to these requirements.
Of course, this is money and expenses. These are not easy times. Something can be done in Ukraine during international breaks. There are opportunities to play against youth or even adult teams from the UPL. Legionnaires are unlikely to come. Not so much because of the war, but because of the opportunity to leave again. We need to work in the realities that exist. You need to look for tournaments abroad that will host and provide food and accommodation. 4 prefabricated windows. Even if the team gathers somewhere in Kyiv or Lvov just to train, there will be benefits from this.
Sergey TISHCHENKO
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2023-11-23 08:51:00
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