Ukraine learn from losses

Ukraine may be out of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship but it has been a valuable learning experience.

Unfortunate end
Having lost their opening games 2-0 to Spain and 3-1 against Germany, Ukraine only had slim hopes of a semi-final place before their last match against France but knew a win would at least take them into a play-off for the FIFA U-17 World Cup. At 2-0 down to the French in Verviers it seemed even that dream was out of reach yet Ukraine fought back to level with a few minutes remaining and were unfortunate not to get a victory that would have kept them in Belgium for three more days.

Philosophical
Assistant coach Yuriy Moroz took over media duties last night from Yuriy Kalitvintsev who injured his achilles tendon kicking a tennis ball over the weekend and watched the France game with his leg on a chair under a blanket. And Moroz was philosophical. "At the start of the tournament, we had already said that the main thing for us to do here is learn," he told uefa.com. "Anything more would have been a real bonus. We came close to the fifth place play-offs, but unfortunately we were not able to score that third goal."

Learning experience
Having to play their opener without captain Kyryl Petrov and striker Dmytro Korishko - scorer of the late equaliser against France - had made life tough for Ukraine, already drawn in the hugely competitive Group A. "We gained a lot of experience here, and we learned some good lessons," Moroz said. "Now, for us, the thing is to work on the mistakes we have made to be able to reach the high level of teams like Spain, Germany and France. Although we did not see any really new things or developments, we did get a lot of information about modern football during the matches. During this tournament, the players have already learned from the matches and the training."

Spain tipped
Moroz added: "I am very glad that our opponents all played positive football and allowed us to play football as well, as we did not play defensively during the tournament. The main difference compared to the other teams was that besides their technical skills, the tactical skills and the insight of the other teams' players were very good." And the Group A winners are Moroz's tips for the title. "Although all the teams had their qualities, Spain were the best side we played against. They display excellent organisation, and I did not see any weak points in that team."