Kuznetsov: The tournament in Seoul will benefit the Ukrainian youth team

Head coach Ukrainian national team U-19 Sergey Kuznetsov commented on the team’s performance at the international youth tournament in Seoul.

“I can definitely say that I will attribute the collection to the asset of our team. The past matches will benefit the team before the qualifying round of the European Championship.”

“If a few years ago South Korea was in second or third place in its region, now it has noticeably improved. At the level of youth teams, this team looks very decent. Morocco is one of the best teams on the African continent, and almost all the players play in good European clubs. And Vietnam is a well-trained team, the players know what to do on the field. Perhaps the players are a little lacking in height, but they fight to the end… We would hardly have found such games in Ukraine, so we can only express our gratitude to the leadership of the UAF for being able to play with such, one might say, exotic teams.”

“I won’t say in percentage terms, but there are 17-18 players in the pool for Euro 2024 qualification. Although I understand that force majeure circumstances may arise, because someone may get injured or get sick. It’s important that we were able to see a lot of newcomers in action, so some of them may be among those players who will go to the qualifications.”

“If plans do not change, then we will leave Kyiv for Poland on November 11. We fly to Malta on the 12th, and our first match is on the 15th.”

The Ukrainian team won two victories in three matches of the tournament in Seoul. First, Kuznetsov’s team lost to South Korea (2:4), and then beat Vietnam (3:2) and Morocco (4:3).

The Ukrainian U-19 national team will play in the qualifying round for Euro 2024 from November 15 to 21. The rivals of Kuznetsov’s team will be Slovakia, Kosovo and Malta.