Pyatenko: Positive impressions, completed the task 101 percent

Head coach Ukrainian women’s national football team Vladimir Pyatenko commented on the match against the national team Wales (2:2) in the 4th round of the first stage European Championship qualification 2025.

“I have only positive impressions from the game. I told the girls after the game that coaches talk about men, but I told them that they are better. The team played and pulled out a draw, so I told them that.”

“Wales level? The players and I talked before this game and before the first game. In conversations they said that it is more interesting to play with such opponents. It is in such fights that we can show our dedication. There is no need to further tune up for such an opponent.”

“We played two grueling games in four days against such an opponent. I am amazed by the dedication and volume of work of our players. These fights are very complex in terms of workload. The football players did everything, showed emotion, anger and turned the game around. This applies to both starters and substitutes. This is a lot of work that costs a lot.”

“The conclusions are the same: you need to believe in our girls. They showed that they can score and play on equal terms with such an opponent. The three goals we scored against Wales in two matches were not random goals. They did everything right, according to our textbook.”

“In my subjective opinion, there was no penalty. We rewatched this episode. There was a touch, but not for a penalty.”

“Anything is possible – and we will do it. We set up players for each game. They are great guys who came to the national team at the end of the season before the holidays. Not on suitcases, but completely devoted ourselves to the matches and the training process. We completed 101 percent in both training and games.”

The Ukrainian national team pulled out a draw with Wales, winning back in stoppage time. A few days earlier, the blue-yellows also played a draw with the Welsh on a foreign field.

Ukraine is third in Group 4 Division B with 5 points. The blue-and-yellows are three points behind Wales and four behind Croatia. In the next match, Pyatenko’s team will play against the outsider Kosovo quartet on July 12.

According to the regulations, the teams that will take first place in the four groups of League B and the two best teams that will take second place in League B will play against the remaining two teams that will take second place and the four teams that will take third place in League B The six teams that overcome this playoff barrier will play in the final qualifying stage against opponents who will go through path A and path C. The top seven will ultimately qualify for the 2025 EURO. Two rounds of the playoffs will take place in October – December 2024.